Prevention and treatment of urinary retention and infection after surgical treatment of the colon and rectum with alpha adrenergic blockers

In a retrospective study, 153 male patients who underwent surgical treatment of the colon and rectum presented with complaints indicating obstruction of the prostate gland and clear indications for preoperative administration of α-blockers. Between the years 1982 and 1984, the α-blocker phenoxybenzamine hydrochloride (PB-HCl) was prohibited from use by the Ministry of Health because of suspicions of its carcinogenic properties. This enabled a comparative study between two groups of patients. Seventy-five patients (group 2a₁) were prohibited from receiving PB-HCl. Urinary retention occurred in 54.7 per cent and urinary tract infection in 65.3 per cent. Seventy-eight patients (group 2a₂) were administered PB-HCl. In this group of patients, urinary retention occurred in 19.2 per cent and urinary tract infection in 15.4 per cent. Forty-one patients with urinary retention of group 2a₁ who were not administered PB-HCl were compared with 50 patients with urinary retention (group 3) who received PB-HCl. Spontaneous relief was observed in 21.9 and 76.0 per cent, respectively. PB-HCl was shown to be extremely effective, both as a preventative and therapeutic agent, when complaints indicating the prostate gland are present in patients undergoing surgical treatment of the colon and rectum.