title: An overlooked cause of acute urinary retention in an adolescent girl: a case report.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Massive hematocolpos resulting from an imperforate hymen is quite a rare cause of acute urinary retention, in an adolescent girl admitted to the emergency department.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 12-year-old girl suffering from severe inguinal pain and dysuria together with difficulty in urination for about 1 month was admitted to the emergency department for acute urinary retention. On gynecological examination, imperforate hymen was observed to be the cause of the urinary difficulty. Pelvic magnetic resonance imaging revealed a dilated vagina exerting pressure on the bladder outlet suggestive of hematocolpos. Cruciate hymenotomy was performed. The postoperative period and three follow-up visits of the patient up to the 6th month were uneventful.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The diagnosis of imperforate hymen can be missed if a genital examination is not performed in adolescent girls presenting to emergency departments with urinary difficulty. The purpose of this paper is to increase awareness among emergency physicians about the probability of imperforate hymen while examining adolescent girls with urinary retention and intermittent lower abdominal pain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Yuzuncu Yil University School of Medicine, Van, Turkey. ertanadali@gmail.com
authors.forename: Ertan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Adali
authors.forename: Mertihan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurdoglu
authors.forename: Recep
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yildizhan
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kolusari
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology; D000293:Adolescent; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006399:Hematocolpos / Q000150:complications* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D006924:Hymen / Q000002:abnormalities*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D016055:Urinary Retention / Q000209:etiology*