Fortnightly review: Acute urinary retention in men: an age old problem

BMJ 1999;318:921-925 ( 3 April )

Clinical review

Fortnightly review

Acute urinary retention in men: an age old problem

Mark Emberton, senior lecturer in oncological urology, ^b Ken Anson, consultant urologist. ^a

^a Institute of Urology and Nephrology, University College London, London W1P 7PN, ^b St George's Hospital NHS Trust, London SW17 0QT

Correspondence to: Mr Emberton memberton@dial.pipex.com

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Acute urinary retention refers to the sudden inability to pass urine. It will often be unexpected, usually inconvenient, andalways painful. If a man lives long enough his risk of havingan episode of acute urinary retention is remarkably high. Over1 in 10 men in their 70s will experience acute urinary retentionwithin the next five years.¹ The risk for men in their 80sis nearly 1 in3.

Treatment depends largely on where the episode occurred. In some areas men have catheters inserted by their general practitioners(with immediate relief of pain), in others patients have to getto hospital first.² Once a catheter is inserted treatment dependson local policy. Some men will be sent home with a catheter andcollection bag, others will spend a night or two in hospital,and a few will find themselves consenting to prostatectomy thenext day.³ Those sent home will have to wait . . . [Full text of this article]

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