When the nerves between the brain and the spinal cord aren’t working properly, bladder control can suffer, resulting in a condition called neurogenic bladder. It’s a common complication of spinal cord injury; in fact, most people with spina bifida or spinal cord injury develop neurogenic bladders. Spontaneous activity of the smooth muscle in the wall of the bladder — called the detrusor muscle — commonly causes urine leakage and incontinence in people with neurogenic bladders.

“For children and adults, incontinence can be one of the most socially and psychologically detrimental complications of spinal cord injury,” says Rosalyn Adam, PhD, who is director of urology research at Boston Children’s Hospital. “The ultimate goal of our research is to return bladder control to the millions of Americans with neurogenic bladders.”

Now, Adam and a team of researchers think that they may have found a practical way to treat neurogenic detrusor overactivity by delivering medication directly into the bladder through self-catheterization, a practice that many people with neurogenic bladders already need to perform regularly. …