Constipation-Induced Acute Urinary Retention in the Intensive Care Unit

Variability in the incidence of constipation in critically ill patients ranges from 16 to 83 per cent.1 Contributing factors in surgical/trauma patients include immobility, sedation, opiates, lack of fiber in diet, and mechanical ventilation. 1 Mostafa et al. reported critically ill constipated vers...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American surgeon 2015-08, Vol.81 (8), p.316-318
Main Authors: Foster, Jenna L, Mohorn, Phillip L, Luis, Alejandro J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accidents, Traffic
Acute Disease
Adult
Constipation
Constipation - complications
Constipation - diagnosis
Critical Care - methods
Documentation
Drug dosages
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Glasgow Coma Scale
Humans
Intensive Care Units
Intubation
Male
Mineral oils
Nutrition
Polyethylene glycol
Population
Prostate
Retention
Risk Assessment
Sampling Studies
Substance-Related Disorders - complications
Substance-Related Disorders - diagnosis
Trauma
Treatment Outcome
Urinary Catheterization - methods
Urinary Retention - etiology
Urinary Retention - physiopathology
Urinary Retention - therapy
Ventilation
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Variability in the incidence of constipation in critically ill patients ranges from 16 to 83 per cent.1 Contributing factors in surgical/trauma patients include immobility, sedation, opiates, lack of fiber in diet, and mechanical ventilation. 1 Mostafa et al. reported critically ill constipated versus nonconstipated patients had statistically significant delays in weaning mechanical ventilation, trends toward increased length of ICU stay, and failure to tolerate enteral nutrition.1 Urinary retention is defined as the inability to voluntarily void urine, can be classified as acute or chronic, and subgrouped as obstructive, infectious, traumatic, pharmacologic, neurogenic, psychogenic, or extraurinary.2 Postvoid residual volume via bladder scan is used to determine need for intermittent catheterization. Discussion Constipation is one of the most prevalent reversible risk factors for development of acute urinary retention. 1 This poses the question of whether surgical/ trauma patients should be assessed for this reversible risk factor before initiating alpha-adrenergic antagonist therapy, and whether aggressive bowel regimen protocols in this population would serve as a proactive approach toward preventing the aforementioned sequelae of constipation.
ISSN:0003-1348
1555-9823
DOI:10.1177/000313481508100809