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Understanding Urinary Retention

Urinary retention is the inability to completely empty the bladder of urine. The onset of urinary retention can be either acute or chronic in its presentation.
urinary retention
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Acute urinary retention is when you suddenly cannot pass any urine at all, even though you have a full bladder and a strong urge to urinate. It can cause severe abdominal discomfort or pain in the lower abdomen. It is a potentially life threating medical condition that requires immediate emergency treatment to drain the bladder of urine.

What’s next?

Independence Australia stocks a wide range of intermittent and indwelling catheters, urinary drainage bags and accessories that are often recommended by your urologist or GP if you have ongoing problems with urinary retention.

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Chronic urinary retention usually develops slowly over time and can be a lifelong condition. You can urinate, but have difficulty completely emptying your bladder and will often dribble urine. You may not even be aware of the condition until you start to develop other symptoms. It may not be life threatening, but it can lead to serious medical complications and requires attention from a health professional.

Most common causes or urinary retention

1. Enlarged prostate
2. Kidney or bladder stones
3. Neurological conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease
4. Bladder outlet obstruction or urethral stricture (tube where urine exits bladder)
5. Spinal cord Injuries where the nerve pathways between the bladder and the brain have been damaged
6. Severe constipation
7. Metabolic conditions such as diabetes
8. Vaginal prolapse

Symptoms of urinary retention to look out for

If you experience these symptoms, please contact your doctor.

  • An overwhelming desire to urinate, but unable to pass any urine
  • Severe abdominal distention of sudden onset or constant abdominal discomfort
  • Trouble starting the flow of urine and a weak urine stream
  • A need to urinate frequently day and night and only passing small volumes of urine
  • A need to urinate just after finishing urination
  • A sense your bladder is not completely empty after urination

Treatment

The treatment of urinary retention will depend on the cause and will require thorough assessment and investigation by a Medical Health Professional such as:

  • Urologist
  • Continence Physician
  • Gynaecologist

Management

The management of urinary retention may involve the insertion of a urethral catheter into your bladder to drain the urine either as a short-term management plan, or you may need to learn how to use an intermittent urinary catheter to drain your bladder of urine as a lifelong bladder management plan.

Health professionals such as Nurse Continence Specialist or Urology Nurse Consultant will be able to teach you how to perform clean intermittent catheterisation, or how to manage your care for your long-term indwelling urinary catheter.

Top 6 tips to maintaining a healthy bladder

  1. Drink 6-8 glasses of water (1.5–2 litres) daily
  2. Limit caffeinated fluids, alcohol, and sugary drinks because they can irritate the bladder
  3. Increase your fibre intake to 25-30 grams each day to bulk up your stools to prevent constipation and straining to pass a bowel motion
  4. Maintain a regular pelvic floor exercise program to keep the pelvic floor muscles strong and to prevent vaginal prolapse occurring
  5. Practice good toilet habits and bladder control by going to the toilet when your bladder feels full and not going “just in case”.
  6. Use the correct toileting position when sitting on the toilet and give yourself time to facilitate complete bladder emptying.

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