Urinary Retention

Urinary Retention General Information

Urinary Retention is the generic term for the inability to willingly urinate, completely or at all, although the need to urinate is present. This is a problem that is more often encountered in men than in women, and in men it commonly occurs due to benign prostatic hyperplasia. It may also be caused by a number of other causes, which are generically classified as obstructive, pharmacologic, neurologic, infectious, inflammatory, or other. Apart from benign prostatic hyperplasia, other common causes are prostatitis, urethritis, cystitis, and vulvovaginitis; anticholinergic and alphaadrenergic agonist medication treatment; lesions of the central or peripheral nervous systems. In women, obstructive Urinary Retention may be caused by the internal organs located in the pelvic region.

This affection can be chronic or acute. In severe cases, it may require hospitalization of the patient, in order to properly apply treatment and relieve the symptoms. If you suspect that you are affected by this condition, it is highly recommended that you contact your personal health care specialist, as leaving it not treated may lead to further complications, such as infections or damage to the kidneys and urinary tract. The examining doctor may require you to take a few tests and go through a complete medical examination in order to check if there are any underlining causes to the affection.

Urinary Retention Symptoms

Urinary Retention is defined by difficulty, and even impossibility to urinate, although the need to is felt. When produced, the stream of urine is intermittent and may require efforts to maintain. However, the bladder is not emptied, thus the need to urinate still persists. In some cases, nocturnia and incontinence are also present, as well as frequency. In cases of acute Urinary Retention, the lower abdomen is also bloated, and the patient will feel a high level of discomfort, possibly even pain. The chronic type of the affection will be accompanied by a constant low level of discomfort.

Urinary Retention is an affection that needs to be brought to the attention of specialized health care professionals immediately, as it may have a severe impact on the organism. In such cases, the bladder stretches beyond its normal size, causing severe pain. The urine may pass through the ureters back into the kidneys, disrupting their normal functioning and causing kidney failure. Some of the other possible consequences are bladder stones and infections, kidney congestion, loss of detrusor muscle tone and even hypertrophy of the detrusor muscle.

This medical condition may be underlined or accompanied by other affections of the urinary tract, presenting a number of other symptoms as well. It is highly advised that if you are having trouble urinating you should immediately consult your specialized health care professional, in order to further investigate and identify the causes of your affection. You should not neglect this condition as it may have severe, possibly even lethal consequences.

Urinary Retention Treatment

In the case of acute Urinary Retention, treatment typically consists of catheterization, which consists in inserting a catheter needle through the urethra, in order to drain the bladder. This should relieve the urgency of the situation and prevent bladder damage. However, this is only a temporary measure that should be employed, and it should be followed by further investigation regarding the underlining causes of the retention. In some cases, it is possible that the patient is only temporarily affected, for example after a surgery involving general anesthesia. If this is not the case, once the causes have been identified they need to be treated in order to completely cure the condition.

In cases of chronic Urinary Retention the patient will need to undergo continued catheterization in order to allow him or her to properly urinate. The patient may need to remain under medical care, in order to further observe the evolution of the condition, or there is the possibility of teaching the patient how to self-catheterize. In cases where the Urinary Retention is caused by an enlarged prostate, there are several medication therapies available to prescribe. However, if the affection does not respond to medication, surgery can be employed.

Female patients affected by cystocele (fallen bladder) will need to undergo surgery in order to treat the condition. The surgical procedure involves making an incision through the vagina in order to locate the defect in the membrane separating the vagina from the rest of the internal organs located in the pelvic area. The defect is sutured closed, and then the incision is closed while removing any excess tissue. This procedure serves to create additional support for the internal organs.

Urethral stricture may prove to be another cause of Urinary Retention in men. There are several procedures that treat this, from dilation (the insertion of small tubes into the urethra in order to widen the passage, each tube wider than the previous, or the insertion of a catheter with a small balloon at the end, which is afterwards inflated inside of the urethra) to surgery. The urethrotomy procedure requires the surgeon to insert a catheter inside the urethra up to the stricture, and there make an incision with a laser or a scalpel in order to allow the flow of urine to exit the body unhindered. Another possibility is the placement of a tube, usually wire mesh, through the stricture in order to keep the passage open.

There are many means of treating the underlining causes of Urinary Retention, depending on the nature of each one. It is best that you consult with your personal health care specialist and undergo a full physical examination, in order to discover the affections that may be causing this condition in your case, after which the examining physician will prescribe the treatment appropriate for your case, consisting of specific procedures and medications determined depending on your age, sex, medical history and general health condition. It is best that you ask him or her for more information regarding your condition and for more information regarding the treatment that you have been prescribed.