Bladder outlet obstruction : Symptoms & Signs, Diagnosis & Tests

Symptoms & Signs

The symptoms of bladder outlet obstruction may vary, but can include:

• Abdominal pain
• Continuous feeling of a full bladder
• Delayed onset of urination (urinary hesitancy)
• Frequent urination
• Inability to urinate (acute urinary retention)
• Pain on urination (dysuria)
• Slow urine flow
• Urinary tract infection
• Urine stream starts and stops (urinary intermittency)

Diagnosis & Tests

If bladder outlet obstruction is suspected, your health care provider will take a thorough history of your problems. During a physical exam, your provider may find one or more of the following possible causes:

• Abdominal mass
• Cystocele (women)
• Distended bladder
• Enlarged prostate (men)

Tests may include:

• Blood chemistries to reveal kidney damage
• Cystoscopy and retrograde urethrogram (x-ray to look for urethral narrowing)
• Ultrasound to locate the blockage of urine, and find out how well the bladder empties
• Urinalysis to look for blood or infection
• Urine culture to show an infection
• Uroflowmetry to determine how fast the urine flows out
• Urodynamic testing to see how much the urine flow is blocked and how well the bladder contracts

Bladder outlet obstruction : Overview, Causes, & Risk

Bladder outlet obstruction : Symptoms & Signs, Diagnosis & Tests

Bladder outlet obstruction : Treatment

Review Date : 11/30/2009
Reviewed By : David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; Herbert Y. Lin, MD, PHD, Nephrologist, Massachusetts General Hospital; Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

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