Urinary tract obstruction is a

urologic disease Urologic diseases or conditions include urinary tract infections, kidney stones, bladder control problems, and prostate problems, among others. Some urologic conditions do not affect a person for that long and some are lifetime conditions. Kidney d ...

consisting of a decrease in the free passage of

urine Urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in humans and in many other animals. Urine flows from the kidneys through the ureters to the urinary bladder. Urination results in urine being excreted from the body through the urethra. Cellular m ...

through one or both

ureter The ureters are tubes made of smooth muscle that propel urine from the kidneys to the urinary bladder. In a human adult, the ureters are usually long and around in diameter. The ureter is lined by urothelial cells, a type of transitional ep ...

s and/or the

urethra The urethra (from Greek οὐρήθρα – ''ourḗthrā'') is a tube that connects the urinary bladder to the urinary meatus for the removal of urine from the body of both females and males. In human females and other primates, the urethra con ...

. It is a cause of

urinary retention Urinary retention is an inability to completely empty the bladder. Onset can be sudden or gradual. When of sudden onset, symptoms include an inability to urinate and lower abdominal pain. When of gradual onset, symptoms may include loss of bladd ...

. Complete obstruction of the urinary tract requires prompt treatment for renal preservation.Chowdhury SH, Cozma AI, Chowdhury JH. Urinary Tract Obstruction. Essentials for the Canadian Medical Licensing Exam: Review and Prep for MCCQE Part I. 2nd edition. Wolters Kluwer. Hong Kong. 2017. Any sign of infection, such as fever and chills, in the context of obstruction to urine flow constitutes a urologic emergency.

Causes

Causes of urinary tract obstruction include: *

Bladder stone A bladder stone is a stone found in the urinary bladder. Signs and symptoms Bladder stones are small mineral deposits that can form in the bladder. In most cases bladder stones develop when the urine becomes very concentrated or when one is d ...

and

renal stone Kidney stone disease, also known as nephrolithiasis or urolithiasis, is a crystallopathy where a solid piece of material (kidney stone) develops in the urinary tract. Kidney stones typically form in the kidney and leave the body in the urine ...

Benign prostatic hyperplasia Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), also called prostate enlargement, is a noncancerous increase in size of the prostate gland. Symptoms may include frequent urination, trouble starting to urinate, weak stream, inability to urinate, or loss o ...

* Obstruction as a

congenital disorder A birth defect, also known as a congenital disorder, is an abnormal condition that is present at birth regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disabilities that may be physical, intellectual, or developmental. The disabilities can ...

Congenital urinary tract obstruction

Urinary tract obstruction as a

results in oligohydramnios which in turn can lead to the Potter sequence of atypical physical appearance.

Pulmonary hypoplasia Pulmonary hypoplasia is incomplete development of the lungs, resulting in an abnormally low number or size of bronchopulmonary segments or alveoli. A congenital malformation, it most often occurs secondary to other fetal abnormalities that in ...

is by far the main cause of death in the early neonatal period for children with congenital lower urinary tract obstruction.

Fetal surgery Fetal surgery also known as antenatal surgery, prenatal surgery, is a growing branch of maternal-fetal medicine that covers any of a broad range of surgical techniques that are used to treat congenital abnormalities in fetuses who are still i ...

of congenital lower urinary tract obstruction seems to improve survival, according to a

randomized In common usage, randomness is the apparent or actual lack of pattern or predictability in events. A random sequence of events, symbols or steps often has no order and does not follow an intelligible pattern or combination. Individual ran ...

yet small study.

Sitting voiding position

meta-analysis A meta-analysis is a statistical analysis that combines the results of multiple scientific studies. Meta-analyses can be performed when there are multiple scientific studies addressing the same question, with each individual study reporting me ...

on the influence of voiding position on urodynamics in healthy males and males with LUTS showed that in the sitting position, the residual urine in the bladder was significantly reduced. The other parameters, namely the maximum urinary flow and the voiding time were increased and decreased respectively. For healthy males, no influence was found on these parameters, meaning that they can urinate in either position.

Diagnosis

Treatment

Treatment depends on the underlying cause of the obstruction and the severity of the symptoms.

References

External links

{{Medical resources , ICD10 = , ICD9 = , ICDO = , OMIM = , DiseasesDB = , MedlinePlus = , eMedicineSubj = article , eMedicineTopic = 438890 , MeSH = , GeneReviewsNBK = , GeneReviewsName = Urological conditions