What Does It Mean If My Doctor Says My Bladder Is Unremarkable?
In short, it simply means that there wasn’t anything of concern found in your test. But it doesn’t guarantee perfect health.
When encountering medical jargon, it can feel like you need a translator for a foreign language. Even a mundane statement can cause anxiety if you don’t know what it means. No one wants to receive a troubling diagnosis. But sometimes, you might be worrying for no reason.
For example, many times when a person receives good test results, the technical language used to describe the information can make it seem like something is wrong. If you’ve ever received a diagnosis that stated your results were “unremarkable,” you might have been left scratching your head.
Let’s break down what this means for your overall health and prognosis.
Simply put, if your doctor or urologist says that you have an unremarkable urinary bladder, it’s a good thing.
It means that they were unable to see or feel anything through a physical exam or scan that would suggest further review is required. But this doesn’t mean that there couldn’t be other health concerns that don’t involve your bladder.
Americans see their primary care doctors less often than they did a decade ago. Adults under 65 made nearly 25% fewer visits to primary care providers in 2016 than they did in 2018, according to National Public Radio. In the same time period, the number of adults who went at least a year without visiting a primary care provider increased from 38% to 46%.
The term “unremarkable” isn’t unique to the bladder and can be used for any organ, tissue, or specimen that is being reviewed either through a physical exam, X-ray, or scan. Sometimes your doctor might use the word “normal” instead. But both still mean the same thing.
However, keep in mind that “unremarkable” is not the same as your doctor saying “nothing is wrong” — just that they don’t see any reason for further examination.
Grossly unremarkable and more uses
If — without the use of a microscope or scanning technology — a physician performs a physical exam and finds nothing visibly wrong with you, they can use the term “grossly unremarkable.” This just means that after performing a visual review with the naked eye, they were unable to find anything visibly wrong.
Meanwhile, “morphologically unremarkable” typically refers to blood or specimen samples that undergo lab testing. As with the other usages, this phrase would imply that your lab results didn’t have any abnormalities which might suggest more testing is needed.
Similarly, “structurally unremarkable” would imply that your bladder — or any organ or body part being reviewed — doesn’t have any abnormalities and appears normal on a visual test like an ultrasound or other imaging test.
What is the difference between ‘normal’ and ‘unremarkable’?
Unremarkable is a medical phrase used to define exam or scan results that are not abnormal.
This doesn’t imply that a patient is perfectly healthy or that other concerns aren’t present in other areas of the body. However, it does mean that a physician hasn’t found any obvious signs of disease, injury, or abnormality that would immediately suggest they need additional testing or treatment.
