Intravesical application of 15 (S) 15 methyl prostaglandin F2-alpha suppository in women with chronic urinary retention.

Intravesical application of 3 mg suppository of 15 (S) 15 methyl prostaglandin F2-alpha during 15 instances in 11 females with chronic urinary retention resulted in reflex voiding after each application. The detrusor reflex activity occurred at intravesical volume of 281 plus minus 33.84 ml subsequent to the drug. Vesical compliance decreased from 21.57 plus minus 2.8 ml/cm H2O to 6.33 plus minus 0.92 ml/cm H2O (p less than 0.001). Mild, self limiting, colicky lower abdominal pain was observed on eleven occasions which did not require any medication. The duration of response to PG suppository (i.e. reflex voiding with residual urine less than 50 ml) was 10.33 plus minus 3.55 weeks. The age of the patient, spinal level of lesion, and time elapsed after the injury/disease before PG administration showed no correlation with the degree of response to PG (decrease in bladder capacity, decrease in vesical compliance) or with the duration of response to the drug or with the occurrence of side effects. In conclusion, intravesical application of 3 mg suppository of 15 (S) methyl prostaglandin F2-alpha was found to induce reflex voiding with minimal side effects thus encouraging its use in non-pregnant women suffering from chronic urinary retention unaccompained by any structural disease of the urethra.