Bladder outlet obstruction

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Kidney anatomy

Female urinary tract

Male urinary tract

Kidney - blood and urine flow

Bladder outlet obstruction

Alternative Names:

BOO; Lower urinary tract obstruction; Prostatism
Symptoms:

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The symptoms of bladder outlet obstruction may vary. The most common symptoms experienced include:

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

Signs and tests:

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

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

In addition to a physical exam your provider may order a variety of tests which may include:

Serum chemistries to reveal kidney damage
Ultrasound to locate the blockage of urine is, and find out completely the bladder is emptied
IVP to locate the blockage is
Urinalysis to look for blood or infection
Urine culture to show an infection
Uroflow to determine how fast the urine flows out
Urodynamic testing -- a more sophisticated way of determining how well the bladder contracts and how blocked the flow of urine is