The predictive value of intravesical prostatic protrusion on the outcome of trial without catheter in patients with acute urinary retention from benign prostatic hyperplasia at Jos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria: a prospective observational study

INTRODUCTION: acute urinary retention represents a significant and painful event in the natural history of benign prostatic hyperplasia. This study was to determine the value of intravesical prostatic protrusion in predicting the outcome of trial without catheter in patients presenting with acute urinary retention from benign prostatic hyperplasia. METHODS: this was a prospective observational study carried out over a one-year period among 78 patients with acute urinary retention from benign prostatic hyperplasia who presented at the Accident and Emergency Department of Jos University Teaching Hospital. They were clinically evaluated, and a urethral catheter was passed to relieve the retention. Trans-abdominal ultrasound assessment of intravesical prostatic protrusion, was performed after relief of acute urinary retention. Patients were placed on tamsulosin tablets 0.4mg daily for three days and they had a trial without catheter on the third day. A receiver operating characteristic curve was used to determine the predictive power of intravesical prostatic protrusion on the outcome of trial without catheter in patients with acute urinary retention from benign prostatic hyperplasia. A p value of <0.05 was considered as significant. RESULTS: seventy-eight patients were enrolled in the study. The mean age and was 65.00 (SD 7.28) years. The mean intravesical prostatic protrusion, voided volume and maximum flow rate were 13.04 (SD 10.94) mm, 89.46 (SD 6.14) mls and 7.63 (SD 5.69) ml/s respectively. Intravesical prostatic protrusion (area under the curve= 0.843, p=0.001) predicted the outcome of trial without catheter with a cut off mark of <7.4, using the receiver operating characteristic curve. CONCLUSION: intravesical prostatic protrusion significantly predicted the outcome of trial without catheter in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia presenting with acute urinary retention. It is a useful tool in the initial evaluation of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia presenting with acute urinary retention.