What is urinary retention?
Urinary retention is when:
With urinary retention:
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You may also leak urine and urinate without meaning to (urinary incontinence)
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Doctors will do an ultrasound after you pee to see how much urine is left in your bladder
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Doctors may use a catheter (thin flexible tube) to empty your bladder
What causes urinary retention?
Causes include:
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Problems with your bladder muscles
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Something blocking your bladder’s opening, such as a kidney stone or enlarged prostate gland
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Severe constipation (fecal impaction)
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Nerve problems to your bladder (these can happen in people with health problems such as diabetes or Parkinson disease)
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Certain medicines
Urinary retention is more common in men because growth of the prostate can block the flow of urine.
What are the symptoms of urinary retention?
How can doctors tell if I have urinary retention?
If you can't pass any urine at all, doctors will know you have urinary retention. If you're able to pass some urine, doctors will do a test to see how much urine stays in your bladder.
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Doctors will have you urinate as much as you can
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They’ll either do an ultrasound of your bladder or insert a catheter into your bladder to see if there is any urine left in your bladder
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If the amount of urine left is more than about half a cup, doctors will know you have urinary retention
Doctors will also do tests:
How do doctors treat urinary retention?
If you can’t urinate at all, doctors will insert a catheter into your bladder right away to drain the urine. To treat the cause of your urinary retention, doctors may:
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Have you stop any medicines that may be causing the problem
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If you’re a man with an enlarged prostate, treat it with surgery or medicines
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Prescribe medicine to relax the muscles at the opening of your bladder
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If you have nerve problems, have you put a catheter in your bladder several times a day to drain urine
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Sometimes, do surgery to pass urine out of your body in a different way
