Acute urinary retention: causes, clinical features and patient care.

This article provides an overview of acute urinary retention (AUR), which can cause patients severe pain and distress. It examines potential causes and risk factors. The main strategies for the treatment and clinical management of patients are discussed. Nurses have a key role in identifying patients at risk of AUR. Therefore, the nursing role in assessment and management is explored.

Urinary tract stones: cause, complications and treatment.

Stones or calculi in the urinary tract affect up to 12% of men and 5% of women by the age of 70 years, with more than a third of individuals having a strong family history (Unwin, 1996). Complications include obstruction in the urinary tract, pain, nausea, vomiting and sepsis. Common causes are: urine stasis, infection, presence of foreign bodies, dehydration, diet and periods of immobility. Encouraging initial diuresis could exacerbate rather than relieve symptoms. Discharge advice is a key feature of preventing recurrence once the predisposing factors have been identified. The relationship between patient and nurse is an invaluable and ideal opportunity for nurses to educate patients in appropriately changing dietary habit and in maintaining a urine output of greater than 2 litres per day.

Urinary tract stones: causes, complications and treatment.

Stones or calculi in the urinary tract affect up to 12% of men and 5% of women by the age of 70 years, with more than a third of individuals having a strong family history (Unwin, 1996). Complications include obstruction in the urinary tract, pain, nausea, vomiting and sepsis. Common causes are: urine stasis, infection, presence of foreign bodies, dehydration, diet and periods of immobility. Encouraging initial diuresis could exacerbate rather than relieve symptoms. Discharge advice is a key feature of preventing recurrence once the predisposing factors have been identified. The relationship between patient and nurse is an invaluable and ideal opportunity for nurses to educate patients in appropriately changing dietary habit and in maintaining a urine output of greater than 2 litres per day.

TUR syndrome: a risk after prostatic surgery.

TUR syndrome occurs in approximately 7% of men following prostatic surgery. Its symptoms can be mistaken for the effects of anaesthesia or age. Patients require careful postoperative monitoring as the syndrome is treatable but can be fatal.

Transurethral electrovaporization of the prostate: is it any better than conventional transurethral resection of the prostate?

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate transurethral electrovaporization of the prostate (TUVP), compared with transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP), as a treatment for men with symptomatic benign prostatic enlargement (BPE). PATIENTS AND METHODS: In all, 235 men with symptomatic BPE in four hospitals in the South-East of England were randomized to TUVP (115) and TURP (120). Patients were assessed using the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), the Short Form-36 (SF-36), EuroQol and sexual function questionnaire, uroflowmetry, ultrasonographic measurement of residual urine volume, pressure-flow urodynamics and transrectal ultrasonography. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference in the objective and subjective outcome after TURP and TUVP. The latter was associated with a lower transfusion rate than TURP but this did not result in an overall reduction in complications. There was no difference in the length of hospital stay. Overall, the two operations produced equivalent results and equivalent complication rates. CONCLUSION: TUVP is an effective treatment for symptomatic BPE, with results equivalent to TURP. TUVP has not led to the expected reduction in early postoperative morbidity or shorter hospital stays.