What Is a Lesion in the Bladder?

What is a lesion in the bladder?

A lesion in the bladder is a general term that describes some abnormality that occurs in the bladder, the hollow container that holds urine until it's ready to be expelled from the body. The key to understanding the question is the definition of a “lesion”. Various lesions may range from benign to serious.

A lesion is a region in organ or tissue (in this case, the bladder) that is suffer damage through such mechanisms as follows:

• Injury (for example penetrating trauma from a car accident),
• Disease (cancer that has spread to other organs to the bladder,
• ulceration (anything that causes loss of bladder tissue thickness such as bladder cancer),
• infection (bladder infections that can be caused by bacteria or other pathogens),
• and/or tumor formation (mass formation of abnormal bladder tissue that is usually cancerous).

Consequently, if you are told the you have a lesion in the bladder, your doctor or your team of doctors needs to be more specific and define to you what they mean by the term “lesion”. Alternatively, it is possible that your doctor discovers a lesion during diagnostic testing. In some instances, your doctor or biopsy results sent to your doctor from a pathologist will further define the nature of the bladder lesion.

Treatment of any bladder lesion is usually determined by the underlying mechanisms that caused the lesion. For example, penetrating to the bladder may involve surgery whereas infection may require specific antimicrobial treatments. You and your doctors need to discuss what treatment protocol is best for your individual circumstance.

For more information, read our full medical articles on bladder cancer and bladder infection signs, symptoms, treatment, and prognosis.