Acute Urinary Retention
Posted by Dr. Bob Crisafi on Sun, Feb 28, 2010 @ 08:52 AM
Most of my blogs have been dealing with BPH or benign prostatic hyperplasia. A serious complication to BPH is urinary retention, which is the inability to urinate. This complication requires immediate medical treatment.
The onset of urinary retention is characterized by a poor urinary stream with intermittent flow, straining, incomplete voiding and hesitancy (a delay between trying to urinate and the actual flow starting). The aforementioned symptoms could worsen to a point where the condition is considered a medical emergency. This worsening condition is known as acute urinary retention whereby one cannot urinate at all.
As the bladder remains full, it may distend or stretch to an abnormally large size associated with pain and the possibility of it tearing. When the bladder distends enough, one will begin to experience pain due to the excessive pressure exerted on the bladder wall. The increased pressure in the bladder can also prevent urine from entering the bladder from the ureters. In the worst of cases, the back pressure exerted could even cause urine to pass back up the ureters and into the kidneys, causing hydronephrosis (dilation or stretching of the kidney with urine).
Men should see their doctor immediately if they are unable to urinate when having a painfully full bladder. In summary, men suffering from BPH should be knowledgeable about serious medical conditions that can arise as complications of BPH (see my blog; "How the Bladder Works").