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Urinary Retention - Urinary Retention symptom, treatment, causes
Urinary Retention is a medical term for the inability to pass urine due to blockage of outflow from the bladder, or disturbance of the nerves or muscles that control urination.
Acute urinary retention results from obstruction of the bladder outlet or urethra (which drains urine from the bladder) by stones, tumours, foreign bodies or strictures (scar tissue); by swelling in a urethra already narrowed by enlargement of the prostate gland; after passing catheters (thin tubes or other instruments through the urethra; fot lowing radiotherapy; sometimes after generalor spinal anaesthetic; and, rarely, from direct injury to the urethra. Acute retention is an emergency needing urgent measures to empty the bladder followed by whatever is necessary to restore normal outflow from it.
Chronic urinary retention may result from obstructions or nerve and muscle disorders that allowsmall amounts of urine to escape but retain morein the bladder, which becomes overdistended and can be seen and felt in the lower abdomen. Chronicretention generally becomes complicated by PYElONEPHRITIS (infection of the ureters and kidneys) and HYDRONEPHROSIS (distension of the kidneyswith urine) and their consequences. The underlying cause must be corrected to prevent KIDNEY FAILURE.
Urinary retention also known as ischuria is a lack of ability to urinate. Causes include impaired bladder contractility, bladder outlet obstruction, detrusor-sphincter dyssynergia (lack of coordination between bladder contraction and sphincter relaxation), or a combination. It is a common complication of benign prostatic hypertrophy (also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia or BPH), although anticholinergics may also play a role, and requires a catheter. Any drug with anticholinergic effects or alpha adrenergic effects such as antihistamines, ephedrine sulfate and phenylpropanolamine can precipitate urinary retention. Neurologic etiologies include cord lesions and multiple sclerosis. Patients with genital herpes may develop urinary retention from nerve involvement. Urinary retention has also been reported following vigorous anal intercourse. The urethral catheterization outlined above is appropriate initial treatment for all these conditions. Sometimes hematuria develops midway through bladder decompression, probably representing loss of tamponade of vessels injured as the bladder distended. This should be watched until the bleeding stops (usually spontaneously) to be sure there is no great blood loss, no other urologic pathology responsible, and no clot obstruction.
Causes of Urinary Retention
The common Causes of Urinary Retention :
- Alcohol.
- Detrusor muscle dyssynergia.
- Congenital urtheral valve abnormalities.
- Herpes zoster.
- Circumcision.
- Benign prostatic hypertrophy.
- Prostate cancer and other pelvic malignancies.
- Damage to the Bladder.
- Hysteria .
Symptoms of Urinary Retention
Some common Symptoms of Urinary Retention :
- Reduced urine.
- Urine retention.
- Total inability to urinate.
- Distended bladder.
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