Abstract
Voiding difficulties in women are common but are often overlooked. The diagnosis of bladder outlet obstruction is difficult to establish due to a lack of consensus on diagnostic criteria. Published studies suggest that α-blockers, both α1 and α1A selective, alleviate voiding symptoms in women with functional bladder outlet obstruction and achieve improvements in objective outcomes such as detrusor pressure, urine flow and postvoid residual urine. Tolerability of treatment was good. Nevertheless, recommendations are impossible to make as existing trials have used different diagnostic criteria, treatment regimens and outcomes. High-quality, randomized controlled trials are needed to clearly establish the efficacy and safety of using α-blockers in female populations with bladder outlet obstruction.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.