Dr Joanna Dargan talks to James about urinary retention. Urinary retention is a common clinical problem afflicting patients both in hospital and as an outpatient.
Summary Writer: Jeff Duncan
Editor: Joanna Dargan
Interviewee: Joanna Dargan
Joanna, a Urology Registrar, is currently working in New South Wales and interested in medical education and training.
With Dr Joanna Dargan, Urology Registrar at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney Australia
Urinary retention is a common clinical problem afflicting patients both in hospital and as an outpatient. It may be described as acute, often a painful condition associated with bladder outlet obstruction; or chronic, an often painless condition incidentally diagnosed and secondary to obstruction or progressive detrusor failure. Junior doctors are often called upon to manage patients in urinary retention and a good basic understanding is required in order to treat these patients safely and effectively.
Case 1 – You are a junior doctor working after hours covering the orthopaedic ward. You are called to see a patient who is Day 2 post hip replacement and a bladder scan performed after the patient complains of lower abdominal pain reveals a 600mL bladder. He has failed his trial of void after his catheter was removed this morning.
Causes of acute urinary retention (in general, male and female)
Case 2 – You are a junior doctor working in ED. You are called to see a patient who has been referred by his GP with a history of TURP, a recent abnormality in blood tests and an outpatient USS showing 1.2L painless bladder retention.
Causes of chronic urinary retention
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