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Abstract
We present an adolescent girl with a 1-day history of acute urinary retention and lower abdominal pain. She was admitted to the paediatric ward for ongoing treatment and investigations. Due to a myriad of factors including pain and anxiety, challenges posed included an incomplete initial abdominal and external genital examination. This case report highlights the importance of a focused history and performing an appropriate sensitive examination at the time of presentation. Furthermore, we explore the common causes of new onset urinary retention and unravel the case as it unfolds. We also highlight differential diagnoses (however, uncommon), which must be considered and not overlooked to avoid unnecessary investigations and to ensure timely management.
- paediatrics
- obstetrics and gynaecology
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Footnotes
Contributors OR and SL jointly decided to write a case report on the patient from the ward. Both shared the workload by allocating headings of the case report, this was done equally. Both were involved in repeatedly proofreading the whole case report and making rolling improvements. SWP, as consultant, provided overall supervisory support, including proofreading the report and making suggestions and edits. All authors read and discussed the final manuscript before agreeing to submit.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent for publication Obtained.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer-reviewed.