Causes of urinary retention in pregnancy

Article written by Doctor Le Thu Huong - Resident - Rehabilitation, Regenerative Medicine Center - Vinmec Times City International Hospital

Urinary retention is the inability to excrete urine in the bladder.
There are two types of urinary retention: acute urinary retention (AUR) that occurs suddenly, is short-lived and then goes away, and chronic urinary retention is gradually increasing, persisting for a long time. Normally, urinary retention is more common in older men, but it also occurs in women.
Studies also show that the group of women who are pregnant for the first time and the group of women over 35 years old are more likely to have urinary retention during pregnancy than other groups.
urinary retention during pregnancy can lead to health problems such as urinary tract infections, urinary stones, or more serious can lead to kidney failure, bladder rupture, miscarriage, premature delivery, malnutrition fetal care. Therefore, this situation needs to be controlled very closely.

Caused by body anatomy and anatomical changes during pregnancy.
Retroverted uterus: 11-15% of patients with urinary retention during pregnancy have a retroverted uterus and 1.4% of women with a retroverted uterus have acute urinary retention during pregnancy. During this period, in patients with retroverted uterus, the bladder neck may be compressed due to the deviation of the cervix. Around the 14th week of pregnancy, the utero-tubal position usually rotates to a higher position, releasing the compression on the bladder neck, thereby, the urinary retention will disappear and the patient will be able to urinate normally again. often.
Factors such as pelvic adhesions, congenital pelvic abnormalities, fibroids of the posterior wall of the uterus, endometriosis, and abortion also affect the AUR by obstructing the uterus from entering the abdomen.
Genital prolapse, hernia of bladder, uterus are also quite common causes of urinary retention in women, and can be encountered during pregnancy, especially when the fetus is large. Unlike the group of causes above, urinary retention due to these causes is difficult to resolve on its own, but is increasingly severe, requiring interventions to treat the cause to be able to solve the problem of urinary retention. .

Urinary tract infections, inflammation in the lower genital area are also risk factors for urinary retention.
Medication use: there are some drugs that cause urinary retention such as anticholinergics (such as antipsychotics, antidepressants, some drugs for respiratory diseases), opioids, anesthetics, alpha agonists - adenoceptor , NSAIDs s, benzodiazepines, muscle relaxants and calcium channel antagonists... Other causes: nerve damage, disc herniation, pelvic tumors... can all be seen at the International General Hospital Vinmec offers a comprehensive maternity care program for pregnant women right from the first months of pregnancy with full antenatal check-ups, periodical 3D and 4D ultrasounds, and routine tests to ensure ensure the mother is always healthy and the fetus develops comprehensively.
Pregnant women will be consulted and checked for health under the close supervision of experienced and specialized Obstetricians, helping mothers have more knowledge to protect their health during pregnancy as well as reduce reduce complications for mother and child.