ARTICLE INFO ______________________________________________________________ ______________________Purpose: Urinary retention is one of the most common complications contributing to surgical procedures. Recent studies have shown the benefits of alpha-adrenergic blockers in preventing post-operative urinary retention (POUR). The aim of this prospective study was to compare the prophylactic effect of tamsulosin with placebo on postoperative urinary retention. Materials and Methods:In this randomized placebo controlled, clinical trial, 232 male patients aged 18 to 50 years old admitted to Razi University Hospital for varicocelectomy, inguinal herniorrhaphy, and scrotal surgery were randomly assigned to receive either three doses of 0.4mg tamsulosin (n = 118) or placebo (n = 114), 14 and 2 hours before, and 10 hours after surgery. Patients were closely monitored for the development of urinary retention 24 hours after surgical intervention. The primary endpoint was to investigate the effect of tamsulosin in prevention of post-operative urinary retention during the first 24 hours after surgical intervention. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS software version 18 and the P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: One hundred and eighteen patients were included in tamsulosin arm and 114 in placebo arm. POUR in patients who received tamsulosin was significantly lower than placebo, as 5.9% of the patients treated with tamsulosin and 21.1% placebo group, reported urinary retention following surgery (P = 0.001). No serious adverse effects were seen in both groups.Conclusions: This study suggests that short perioperative treatment with tamsulosin can reduce the incidence of urinary retention and the need for catheterization after varicocelectomy, inguinal herniorrhaphy, and scrotal surgery.

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Introduction Phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors PDE5Is are less effective in diabetic men with erectile dysfunction (ED); however, the effect of combination therapy with folic acid and PDE5Is in these patients has not been investigated. Aim To evaluate the efficacy and safety of combination therapy with folic acid and tadalafil for the management of ED in men with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods Eighty-three patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and ED were included in this randomized double-blind clinical trial. They were randomly divided into two groups. Group A was treated with tadalafil 10 mg every other day plus folic acid 5 mg daily and group B received tadalafil 10 mg every other day plus placebo daily for 3 months. The mean International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) scores before and after treatment in each groups were recorded. Men with diagnosis of psychological ED, spinal cord injury, or who used folic acid in the past 3 months and patients with any contradiction for use of PDE5Is were excluded. Main Outcomes Measures The cross tabulation and independent t-test were used to evaluate the difference between baseline characteristic of the patients in the two groups. Wilcoxon signed-ranks test and Mann–Whitney U-test were used to evaluate the IIEF score and also its changes before and after treatment in the two groups. Results The mean IIEF scores before and after treatment were 11.65 ± 2.67 and 16.80 ± 4.03 in group A (P &lt; 0.001) and 12.70 ± 2.31 and 14.37 ± 2.17 in group B (P &lt; 0.001), respectively. The difference of mean IIEF score after treatment between the two groups was significant (16.80 ± 4.03 vs. 14.37 ± 2.17 in groups A and B, respectively) (P = 0.002). Also, the mean IIEF score was significantly increased in group A as compared with group B (5.14 ± 3.84 vs. 1.68 ± 0.99 in groups A and B, respectively) (P &lt; 0.001). Both folic acid and tadalafil were well tolerated by all the patients. Conclusion Sexual function in diabetic patients with ED treated with the combination of tadalafil and folic acid improved significantly as compared with the placebo group. The use of folic acid and tadalafil is safe.

Objective: We evaluated the effect of terazosin in the improvement of lower urinary tract symptoms and flank pain in patients with internal ureteral stents. Methods: In this double-blind randomized clinical trial, 73 patients with unilateral ureteral stone and hydroureteronephrosis who underwent insertion of an internal ureteral stent after transureteral lithotripsy (TUL) were randomized into two groups. 37 patients received terazosin 2 mg (once nightly) for 4 weeks and 36 patients received placebo for the same time duration. After 4 weeks, all patients were asked about the incidence of frequency, nocturia and urgency by an International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) questionnaire, flank pain and pain during urination by a visual analog scale (VAS) score, and hematuria. Results: The mean VAS score was 2.21 in the terazosin group compared with 4.93 in the control group (p < 0.001). Nearly all the patients in the placebo group reported flank pain during urination but this was only reported in 54.5% of the patients in the terazosin group (p < 0.001). All criteria measured by the IPSS in the terazosin group were significantly lower than those in the placebo group (p = 0.0001). Conclusions: Administration of terazosin for patients with an internal ureteral stent relieved some stent-related symptoms such as flank pain, pain during voiding, frequency, nocturia and urgency, but had no effect on hematuria.