Evaluation the efficacy of prophylactic tamsulosin in preventing acute urinary retention and other obstructive urinary symptoms following colporrhaphy surgery

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Postoperative urinary retention (POUR) is defined as a disability in urinary excision after surgery. There are several strategies to prevent POUR, such as tamsulosin, which is a selective antagonist at alpha-1A and alpha-1B-adrenoceptors which reduces the bladder outlet resistance. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of prophylactic tamsulosin in preventing acute urinary retention and other obstructive urinary symptoms following colporrhaphy surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was a randomized, double-blind clinical trial. A total of 130 patients who were candidates for colporrhaphy were divided into two groups: the intervention group (65 subjects received 0.4 mg tamsulosin in a single dose at the time of sleeping) and the control group (65 subjects received placebo at the same time as the intervention group). The incidence of acute urinary retention and other obstructive urethral symptoms and the mean urination volume after catheterization were recorded 24 h after operation. Patients’ demographic and clinical data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 software using Chi-square and Fisher's tests. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in the incidence of acute urinary retention, decrease in urine flow diameter, and the mean residual urine volume Post Void Residual (PVR) in the bladder, and the incidence of these symptoms decreased in the tamsulosin recipient group. The incidence of other symptoms of acute urinary retention was not significantly different when compared between both the groups. CONCLUSION: It seems that the use of prophylactic tamsulosin is more effective in decreasing the incidence of acute urinary retention, decreasing the PVR in the bladder, and decreasing the diameter of the urine flow in patients after colporrhaphy.