Definitions
Urinary retention is defined as an inability to micturate (pass urine). Acute urinary retention is the sudden inability to micturate in the presence of a painful bladder. Chronic urinary retention is the presence of an enlarged, full, often painless bladder with or without difficulty in micturition. Overflow incontinence is an uncontrollable leakage and dribbling of urine from the urethra in the presence of a full bladder.
Key Points
- Acute retention: characterized by pain, sensation of bladder fullness, bladder often only mildly distended or not clinically detectable unless superadded on chronic retention.
- Chronic retention: characterized by symptoms of bladder irritation (frequency, dysuria, small volume), or painless, marked distention, overflow incontinence (often associated with secondary UTI).
- Urinary retention is uncommon in young adults and always requires investigation to exclude underlying cause.
- Retention is common in elderly men – often due to prostate pathology.
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