Safety of anticholinergics in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia.
BACKGROUND
Storage lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) or overactive bladder (OAB) often coexist with voiding symptoms in patients with benign prostatic obstruction (BPO). Anticholinergic medications to treat storage LUTS are often withheld in such patients for fear of significantly increasing post-void residual urine volumes or provoking acute urinary retention (AUR).


OBJECTIVE
To assess the clinical validity of concerns regarding urinary safety of anticholinergics in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia.


METHODS
Review of indexed literature and congress abstracts.


CONCLUSIONS
Existing urinary and non-urinary safety data on BPO patients administered anticholinergics, either alone or in combination with alpha-blockers, do not seem to support the above-mentioned concerns. Nevertheless, precise criteria for patient and drug selection to ascertain safe and effective administration are not yet established and need to be investigated in future trials.
Athanasopoulos
Anastasios
A
University of Patras, Medical School, 26500 Patras, Greece.
Mitropoulos
Dionisios
D
Giannitsas
Konstantinos
K
Perimenis
Petros
P
D000317:Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018680:Cholinergic Antagonists / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018579:Patient Selection; D011470:Prostatic Hyperplasia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D053201:Urinary Bladder, Overactive / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D014555:Urination Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology
D000317:Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists; D018680:Cholinergic Antagonists