Voiding dysfunction in institutionalized elderly men: the influence of previous prostatectomy

Voiding problems, either retention or incontinence, affect a majority of institutionalized elderly patients. Although impaired cerebral function is the dominant cause, those patients who had undergone prior transurethral prostatectomy were more vulnerable to the development of voiding dysfunction than those who had not. Moreover, the elimination of obstruction by prostatectomy did not produce the expected shift from indwelling catheterization to condom drainage.