Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Oct-Dec;9(4):339-342.
doi: 10.4103/0974-7796.216320.

Rapid versus gradual bladder decompression in acute urinary retention

Mohamed H Etafy  1 , Fatma H Saleh  1 , Cervando Ortiz-Vanderdys  2 , Alaa Hamada  3 , Alaa M Refaat  1 , Mohamed Abdel Aal  1 , Hazem Deif  1 , Maher Gawish  1 , Ashraf H Abdellatif  1 , Khaled Gadalla  1
Affiliations

Rapid versus gradual bladder decompression in acute urinary retention

Mohamed H Etafy et al. Urol Ann. 2017 Oct-Dec.

Abstract

Objective: To demonstrate a benefit in diminished adverse events such as hypotension and hematuria with gradual drainage of the bladder when compared to rapid decompression in patients with acute urinary retention (AUR) due to benign prostatic hyperplasia in a case-control study.

Methods: Sixty-two patients matched our selection criteria presenting with AUR. They were divided into two groups - the first was managed by rapid drainage of the bladder, the second was managed by gradual drainage through a urethral catheter (The first 100 mL immediately evacuated, then the rest evacuated gradually over 2 h).

Results: The mean age was 64.4 and 63.2 years in the first and second group, respectively. Diagnosed cause was benign hyperplasia of the prostate. Hematuria occurred in two patients in the first group and none in the second group. The two cases of hematuria were mild and treated conservatively. After the relief of the obstruction, the mean blood pressure was noticed to decrease by 15 mmHg and 10 mmHg in the first and second group, respectively, however, no one developed significant hypotension. Pain relief was achieved after complete drainage in the first group and after the evacuation of 100 mL in the second group.

Conclusions: We conclude that there is no significant difference between rapid and gradual decompression of the bladder in patients with AUR. Hematuria and hypotension may occur after rapid decompression of the obstructed urinary bladder, but these complications are rarely clinically significant.

Keywords: Benign prostatic hyperplasia; prostate; retention.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Jacobsen SJ, Jacobson DJ, Girman CJ, Roberts RO, Rhodes T, Guess HA, et al. Natural history of prostatism: Risk factors for acute urinary retention. J Urol. 1997;158:481–7. - PubMed
    1. Meigs JB, Barry MJ, Giovannucci E, Rimm EB, Stampfer MJ, Kawachi I. Incidence rates and risk factors for acute urinary retention: The health professionals followup study. J Urol. 1999;162:376–82. - PubMed
    1. Verhamme KM, Dieleman JP, van Wijk MA, Bosch JL, Stricker BH, Sturkenboom MC. Low incidence of acute urinary retention in the general male population: The triumph project. Eur Urol. 2005;47:494–8. - PubMed
    1. Cathcart P, van der Meulen J, Armitage J, and Emberton M. Incidence of primary and recurrent acute urinary retention between 1998 and 2003 in England. J Urol. 2006;176:200–4. - PubMed
    1. Emberton M, Fitzpatrick JM. The Reten-World survey of the management of acute urinary retention: Preliminary results. BJU Int. 2008;101(Suppl 3):27–32. - PubMed