URINARY RETENTION FOLLOWING SURGICAL OPERATION ON THE RECTUM AND SIGMOID

Abstract

Among the complications which may follow surgical procedures to remove the rectum or sigmoid, none is more disturbing to the patient and to the surgeon than persistent urinary retention. The most common types of operations employed on this portion of the bowel are posterior resections or combined abdominoperineal resections (either one stage or two stage procedures). These operations are usually done for cancer which involves the rectum or sigmoid. The urologic problem involved after one of these operations has been performed is difficult. It consists chiefly in relieving the urinary retention and keeping the degree of urinary infection at a minimum. The vesical dysfunction that may follow the operations mentioned in the preceding paragraph may express itself from a moderate difficulty of micturition with varying amounts of residual urine to complete inability of the patient to void, with total urinary retention. An attempt to explain the reason for this phenomenon