Acute urinary retention in men

BMJ 1999;319:1004 ( 9 October )

Letters

Acute urinary retention in men

Management is more complex issue than was described

Authors' reply

Management is more complex issue than was described

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

EDITOR $---$ Emberton and Anson's review of acute urinary retention was timely and informative.¹ In part of it they focused onthe use of finasteride to reduce the risk of the disease.²We disagree with them that the continuous administration of finasteridefor four years is probably warranted in men with large prostates,moderate to severe symptoms, and poor urinary flowrates.

Firstly, the cost implications are enormous. To prevent one event (acute urinary retention or prostatectomy) 15 patients wouldhave to be treated for four years at a cost of £19 475.³ Secondly,the reduction in mean symptom scores with long term finasteridetreatment is small (mean reduction 3.3 points) and not comparablewith the results obtained after prostatectomy (mean reduction19.4 points).⁴ Furthermore, what should happen after four yearsof treatment has not been established. Should finasteride treatmentbe stopped, with the probability of prostatic regrowth, or shouldpatients take it for . . . [Full text of this article]

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Fortnightly review: Acute urinary retention in men: an age old problem: Mark Emberton and Ken Anson
BMJ 1999 318: 921-925. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]