The limited available evidence suggests that alpha blockers increase success rates of TWOC. Alpha blocker side effects are low and comparable to placebo. It is uncertain whether alpha blockers reduce the risk of recurrent urinary retention and need for prostate surgery. The cost effectiveness and recommended duration of alpha blocker treatment after successful TWOC remains unknown. There are a lack of internationally agreed outcome measures for what constitutes successful TWOC. This makes meta-analysis difficult. More randomised clinical trials are needed to address these issues.

We aim to identify predictors of successful trial without catheter after an episode of acute urinary retention and to evaluate how serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels behave during an acute urinary retention episode and also whether the PSA level is a useful indicator of undetected prostate cancer. Patients and methods: 335 patients presented to our institution in acute urinary retention from June 2006 to December 2007. After excluding females, patients with known prostate cancer, clot retention due to haematuria and catheter-related problems, 100 patients were entered into this prospective audit. On admission we documented serum PSA and CRP levels, residual urine volumes, urinary tract infection (UTI), digital rectal examination (DRE) and history of urinary tract surgery. The outcome of subsequent trial without catheter (TWOC) was documented. Where indicated, repeat serum PSA and CRP levels, transrectal ultrasound and prostate biopsies were obtained. Parametric and non-parametric tests were used for statistical analysis. Results: Median residual volume on catheterization was 750 mL. Successful TWOC was more likely in smaller sized prostates (Kendall tau-b, p = 0.004) and in benign feeling prostates (Fisher Exact Test, p = 0.004). TWOC failure was significantly higher in patients diagnosed with new prostate cancer (Fisher Exact Test, p = 0.032). Higher initial PSA levels, higher residual volumes and larger prostate size on DRE also resulted in higher TWOC failure rates. However these correlations were not statistically significant. UTI was confirmed in 13 of 100 patients on admission. Presence of UTI on admission had no influence on CRP or PSA levels, residual volumes or outcome

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