[Acute urinary retention in hospital: from diagnosis to voiding trial]

Approximately 10% of hospitalized patients in internal medicine will require urinary catheterization, and in 20% of cases, this procedure is justified by acute urinary retention. Given the complications associated with urinary catheterization, it is crucial that the diagnosis is made correctly, and that the duration of catheterization is kept as short as possible. The diagnostic approach to acute urinary retention relies on clinical suspicion and ultrasound confirmation to minimize unnecessary catheterization. It is also important to distinguish acute urinary retention from chronic retention. In many cases, a voiding trial after urinary catheter removal should be made within the first three days. Correcting precipitating factors, prescribing a-blockers, and instilling NaCl before catheter removal increase the success rate of voiding.