When treating bladder retention, it is important to differentiate between acute and chronic conditions!

In medicine, bladder retention mainly refers to the inability of urine in the bladder to be discharged normally, causing the patient to feel unbearable "holding" urine. There is not only one type of this disease, but it is divided into acute urinary retention and chronic urinary retention. The treatment of this disease also depends on the different types to choose the best treatment method.

1. Acute urinary retention

The principle of treatment is to eliminate the cause and restore urination. If the cause is unknown or the obstruction is difficult to eliminate for the time being, catheterization or suprapubic cystostomy should be performed to drain the bladder urine to relieve the pain, and then further examinations should be performed to clarify the cause. If urination is still not possible after treatment such as hot compress or acupuncture in the suprapubic bladder area, catheterization can be performed. If the urinary retention cannot be recovered in a short time, a urinary catheter should be left in place for continuous catheterization and removed as appropriate. For patients with acute urinary retention who cannot insert a urinary catheter, suprapubic cystostomy should be performed. If there is no bladder puncture needle, suprapubic cystostomy can be performed surgically. If the cause of the obstruction cannot be eliminated, urine can be drained permanently and the cystostomy catheter can be replaced regularly.

2. Chronic urinary retention

If it is caused by mechanical obstruction, patients with upper urinary tract dilatation, hydronephrosis, and renal function impairment should first undergo bladder drainage, and after the hydronephrosis is relieved and renal function is improved, the obstruction should be relieved according to the cause. If it is caused by dynamic obstruction, most patients need to have a urinary catheter and change it regularly; patients with severe upper urinary tract hydronephrosis can undergo urinary diversion surgery such as suprapubic cystostomy or nephrostomy.