Holding postures characteristic of unstable bladder.

Holding postures to resist uninhibited detrusor contractions are illustrated and discussed. These postures were observed in children with urodynamically proved unstable bladders. The majority of the holding postures involved compressing the urethral meatus or the perineum in girls, or contracting all of the skeletal muscles or squeezing the glans penis in boys. The holding posture required the child to remain still. Younger children used straightforward holding postures, while older children adopted more sophisticated and less recognizable positions. These clinical observations seem to suggest that a physician should probably suspect an unstable bladder in any child who often demonstrates any of these postures.