ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the clinical efficacy of alpha-1 A adrenoceptor antagonist (tamsulosin) in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients with acute urinary retention.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Seventy-two BPH patients with acute retention of urine were randomly divided into treatment group and control group of 36 patients each. All the patients were treated with indwelling catheter, oral antibiotics and the patients in treatment group tamsulosin 0.4 mg once a day for 3 days. The catheter was removed after 72 hours of treatment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After removal of the catheter, 44% (32/72) of patients voided successfully. The effect rates were 61% (22/36) in the tamsulosin treatment group and 28% (10/36) in the control group(P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Treatment with tamsulosin was effective in raising the success rate of voiding without catheter after an episode of acute urinary retention. The efficacy of treatment was not influenced by the volume of prostate.</p>