You should go to the hospital immediately (emergency room) if you have a full bladder but cannot pee at all, especially if it's accompanied by severe lower abdominal pain, as this is acute urinary retention, a serious condition needing urgent catheterization to prevent kidney damage. Also seek urgent care if you can't urinate, have intense pain, blood in your urine, new numbness, or can't self-catheterize if you normally do.
See your doctor immediately if your bladder feels full but you cannot urinate at all. If your doctor is not available, go to the emergency department. Acute urinary retention needs treatment straight away.
Lack of urine
It is vital that your kidneys and bladder are working together all of the time to ensure that the toxins are gone or they can lead to more serious conditions. If you or a loved one has gone more than 24 hours without urination, it is important to go directly to the emergency room.
Acute urinary retention is considered an emergency, so you should seek immediate care if your child hasn't been able to urinate or fully empty their bladder for 12 hours or more.
If you suddenly cannot urinate and have extreme pain in your lower abdomen, you may have acute urinary retention. This is a dangerous condition. You should seek emergency care if you can't urinate and have pain in your lower abdomen.
Acute urinary retention can cause severe pain and be life threatening. If you are suddenly unable to urinate, it's important that you seek emergency medical treatment right away.
The "21-second pee rule" comes from a scientific study showing most mammals over about 3 kg (6.6 lbs) empty their bladders in roughly 21 seconds, a phenomenon explained by physics where longer, wider urethras in larger animals use gravity to maintain a similar flow rate to smaller ones, and it serves as a loose benchmark for human bladder health; significantly shorter or longer times can signal issues like overactive bladder or holding it too long.
Acute urinary retention can be life threatening. If you have any of the other symptoms of urinary retention, such as trouble urinating, frequent urination, or leaking urine, talk with your health care professional about your symptoms and possible treatments. Chronic urinary retention can cause serious health problems.
With acute urinary retention, a health care professional will immediately drain the urine from your bladder using a catheter. Removing the urine from the bladder eases your pain and helps prevent your bladder and kidneys from being damaged.
Chronic urinary retention means that your symptoms are more gradual. Blockages, medications and nerve problems are common reasons a person may have urinary retention. The acute form of urinary retention is an emergency. In this case, you'll need to see a healthcare provider right away.
A large decrease in urine output may be a sign of a serious condition. In some cases, it can be life threatening. Most of the time, urine output can be restored with prompt medical care.
Home Care
Go to the emergency room for a UTI if you have a high fever, strong back or side pain, nausea, vomiting, or blood in your urine — but you feel alert and can get to the hospital safely without calling 911. Symptoms to watch for include: Persistent high fever (above 102°F), with chills and shaking.
Urgent urination is a sudden, strong need to urinate. This causes a discomfort in your bladder. Urgent urination makes it difficult to delay using the toilet. A frequent need to urinate at night is called nocturia. Most people can sleep for 6 to 8 hours without having to urinate.
Urge incontinence, or urgency incontinence, is when you feel a sudden and very intense need to pass urine and you're unable to delay going to the toilet. There are often only a few seconds between the need to urinate and the release of urine.
Usually, we'll insert a catheter (small tube) into the urethra so urine can be drained into a collection bag. If the urethra is blocked so the catheter can't pass through it, we might put the catheter through the skin into the bladder and drain it that way.
Acute urinary retention is a urologic emergency characterized by the sudden inability to urinate combined with suprapubic pain, bloating, urgency, distress, or, occasionally, mild incontinence.
Nursing Interventions for Urinary Retention
Encourage timed voiding and double voiding techniques. Provide privacy and ensure a comfortable environment for voiding. Educate on potential causes and lifestyle modifications. Administer prescribed medications (e.g., alpha-blockers).
The 5 key warning signs of a bladder infection (Urinary Tract Infection or UTI) are: pain/burning during urination, frequent/urgent need to pee (even with little output), cloudy/bloody/strong-smelling urine, lower belly/pelvic pressure, and feeling like your bladder isn't empty, with fever or back pain signaling a more serious kidney infection, requiring immediate medical attention.
A post-void residual of 100 to 200 mL indicates some problem with bladder emptying but is reasonably acceptable in most patients. Residual urine volumes >200 mL are considered pathological and abnormal, while post-void residuals >400 mL typically indicate retention. (Normal bladder maximum capacity is about 500 mL.)
Symptoms of urinary obstruction
A: Most adults can safely hold their pee for about 3 to 5 hours, but it's best not to wait that long. Holding it too often can irritate your bladder and increase your risk of infection. The average bladder holds 400–600 mL of urine. “Go” when you first feel the urge, especially on long trips.
As a result, some individuals drink water and pee more quickly, while others require more time. Healthy individuals will typically absorb water and produce urine in two hours. Therefore, there is no set duration for when water turns into urine; instead, the answer really depends on you.
Ideally, you shouldn't hold your pee in for longer than the time it takes to reach a restroom. A healthy bladder can hold up to 500 ml of urine before it's full. It takes your body almost 9 to 10 hours to produce 500 ml of urine.