Many Men Die After Severe Urinary Complications

Editor's Choice
Main Category: Urology / Nephrology
Also Included In: Prostate / Prostate Cancer;  Men's health;  Seniors / Aging
Article Date: 12 Nov 2007 - 0:00 PDT

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Approximately one quarter of men who are admitted to hospital with acute urinary retention will die within twelve months, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ). Death figures are not that different from those seen with patients who had a broken hip, explain the authors. As the general population gets older the problem will probably get worse.

Acute Urinary Retention (AUR) happens when somebody cannot pass urine - it is often a progression in the size of the prostate gland among middle-aged and elderly men and can interfere with the normal flow of urine. Often linked to other disorders, such as hypertension (high blood pressure) and diabetes, the condition is a medical emergency.

The authors wanted to find out what the risk of death was with AUR. They looked at data on all men over 45 who were hospitalized at National Health Service (NHA) hospitals in England, with a first episode of AUR between 1998-2005 - the study involved a total of 176,046 men. They compared mortality during the twelve months following AUR to mortality among the general male population of similar age.

They found that mortality among men over 45 who had AUR was very high. One in every seven men with spontaneous AUR and one in four with precipitated AUR died with twelve months, the authors write. The older the patient was the higher was his risk of death. The presence of other disorders also raised the risk of death. Approximately 50% of men over 85 with AUR died within a year.

In general, mortality for all men over 45 who were hospitalized for AUR was two to three times higher than for the general male population. Men aged 45-54 with precipitated AUR had a 24-fold higher mortality rate than males in the general population.

The mortality of men with AUR who are admitted to hospital is high and rises steeply with age, and the presence of other conditions, conclude the authors. Consequently, AUR patients may benefit from urgent multi-disciplinary care to identify and treat comorbidity early.

"Mortality in men with acute urinary retention admitted to hospital BMJ Online First"
James N Armitage, Nokuthaba Sibanda, Paul J Cathcart, Mark Emberton, Jan H P van der Meulen
BMJ doi:10.1136/bmj.39377.617269.55
http://www.bmj.com

Written by - Christian Nordqvist
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