Table 1 Reasons for urinary retention. Modified after [18, 25]

Reasons for mechanical obstruction

Adenocarcinoma or sarcomatoid carcinoma of the prostate

Benign prostatic hyperplasia

Prostatic, appendiceal abscess

Prostatitis, cystitis, urethritis

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Sarcoma, lymphoma of the prostate

Urolithiasis

Ectopic Ureterocele

Constipation

Urethral valves, strictures

Uterine fibroids or other tumors

Impacted retroverted uterus

Gastrointestinal tumors

Haematocolpos

Cystocele or rectocele

Foreign bodies (external or internal)

Trauma

Phimosis, paraphimosis

Blood clots from bleeding in the bladder or upper urinary tract

Reasons for increased sphincter tone

Neurofibromatosis in the prostate

Anorectal surgery

Fowler’s syndrome

Reasons for interference with sensory or motor innervation to the bladder

Diabetic cystopathy

Herpes zoster in the sacral dermatomes (S2-S4)

Drug-induced

Cauda equina syndrome/Elsberg syndrome/Guillan-Barré syndrome

Psychogenic

Transverse myelitis in Lyme disease