Urinary retention

Accumulation of urine within the bladder because of the inability to urinate. Urinary retention can be acute—a sudden inability to urinate, or chronic—a gradual inability to completely empty the bladder of urine.

Symptoms & Causes The symptoms of urinary retention can range from severe abdominal pain and the inability to urinate, to few or no symptoms at all. Urinary retention results from either a blockage that partially or fully prevents the flow of urine, or your bladder not being able to maintain a strong enough force to expel all the urine.

Diagnosis

Health care professionals use your medical history, a physical exam, and tests to help find the cause of urinary retention. Tests include postvoid residual urine measurement, lab tests, imaging tests, urodynamic tests, and cystoscopy.

Treatment

Treatment for urinary retention depends on the type of urinary retention you have—either acute or chronic—and the cause of your urinary retention. Treatments for urinary retention may include draining the bladder, medicines, medical procedures or devices, surgery, and self-care treatments.

Prevention

You can’t always prevent urinary retention, but by staying in tune with your body and bathroom habits, taking medicine as prescribed, strengthening your pelvic floor muscles, and making good dietary choices, you can help keep your bladder as healthy as possible

External links

Classification	ICD-10: R33 ICD-9-CM: 788.2 MeSH: D016055 DiseasesDB: 13582

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