Low urination or low urination (oliguria) is when, due to various causes, the natural amount of urine falls below about 800 ml. Usually, this happens due to insufficient fluid intake. However, serious diseases can also be considered as causes, such as kidney weakness or renal insufficiency. Also, many elderly people suffering from dementia drink much less than their body needs due to their forgetfulness and lower sense of thirst.
What is low urination (oliguria)?
Low urination or low urge to urinate (oliguria) is when, due to various causes, the natural amount of urine falls below about 800 ml. In many cases, a disease of the prostate or urinary bladder is the cause. During normal urination, which in medicine is called micturition, a healthy person excretes about 800 ml of urine per toilet. The healthy level of micturition is about 1.5 liters in total per day. The frequency of urination depends on various factors. If the amount of urine excreted per day is remarkably low and the number of trips to the toilet to urinate is limited to only three or four times a day, we speak of low urination or oliguria. Low urination or oliguria is when the amount of urine passed daily is between 100 and 600 ml. In contrast to low urination is the pathological frequent urination or frequent urination.
Causes
Decreased urination can have a variety of causes. Low urination may be caused by a disease of the bladder sphincter. Adhesions or tumors may cause the sphincter to not work and limit a release of urine. This can often be the case in men suffering from cancerous disease of the prostate. This also particularly affects the ability of the urethra to pass urine. If this is obstructed, the bladder cannot empty sufficiently. Low urination can be caused by nervous impairments, which primarily affect the conduction of special impulses starting from the bladder via nerve pathways. The urinary bladder, physiologically the stretch receptors in the bladder, sends information to the corresponding brain areas above a certain capacity, which is the signal for emptying. If the conduction of stimuli is interrupted or disturbed, then the amount of urine released decreases. The amount of urine is also based on the functional capacity of the kidneys. If this is limited by kidney disease, then they can no longer produce enough urine and low urination is the result. A typical symptom is low urination for existing glumerulonephritis or acute nephritic syndrome.
Diseases with this symptom
- Prostate cancer
- Dehydration
- Weakness of the kidneys (renal insufficiency)
- Yellow fever
- Urosepsis
- Acute renal failure
Complications
Oliguria (low urination of less than 500 ml within 24 hours) can lead to various complications. If the urinary retention, also called urinary retention, is prolonged, the bladder wall may become overstretched. This often results in a strong feeling of pressure with severe pain in the abdomen. If the bladder remains bulging for a long time, there is a risk that the bladder muscle will no longer close properly and consequently give way at some point. This results in an overflow bladder with slight urine dribbling. Doctors then speak of overflow incontinence. This can result not only in urinary retention in the ureters and renal pelvis, but also in damage to the kidneys. In case of the latter symptomatology, we then speak of a urinary stasis kidney. The state of confusion and decreased (too low) filling of the jugular veins (vessels of the neck region) are only two serious complications that can occur in connection with urinary retention. Hypotension (blood pressure that is too low) and a tendency to fall can also occur. Acute kidney failure as well as shock are among the worst complications. These can only be avoided by immediate treatment.A disturbance in the electrolyte balance due to an increase in potassium electrolytes in the body as a result of oliguria that has occurred can lead to symptoms of poisoning. In particularly severe cases, acute kidney failure may occur. Sometimes water retention also occurs, for example, in the legs.
When should you go to the doctor?
Low urination is when someone excretes a volume of urine of less than 500 ml within 24 hours. Some doctors set this limit at 800 ml. The normal daily amount of urine is between 1000 ml and 1500 ml. Most often, low urination is due to low drinking or a disease of the genitourinary tract. Heart failure is another possible cause of low urination. In this case, the body stores water in the tissues instead of excreting it through the kidneys. A doctor should be consulted in any case of low urination. In cases of insufficient drinking, it is almost always the elderly. They have a lower sense of thirst and often forget to drink. In extreme cases, low drinking can lead to dehydration, which is why a doctor should be consulted for this reason alone. Very helpful in diagnosing the cause of low urination, in addition to the internist, is the urologist. Mechanical obstructions in the kidney due to thrombosis, embolism or tumor can result in low urination. Other problems of the urinary tract such as kidney inflammation including pelvic inflammation, cystic kidneys, kidney failure as well as kidney stones promote low urination and also electrolyte disorders and potassium deficiency. Low urination in men is also often related to an enlarged prostate.
Treatment and therapy
Because oliguria or low urination in most cases indicates acute renal failure, if treatment is started in time, symptoms can often be recognized so that low urination can be corrected. In addition to the general therapeutic measures, which include compensating for a lack of fluid volume and treating a lowered blood pressure, an excessive increase in potassium electrolytes in the body is reduced. Glucose or Resonin is administered for this purpose. So-called diuretics, which stimulate increased excretion of urine to prevent intoxication of the organism, have a favorable effect. Dialysis is also appropriate in cases of low urination due to acute kidney failure. If it is not acute renal failure and the decreased urination is due to inadequate fluid intake, then adequate administration of fluids either orally or by infusion is indicated. In some patients, low urination is manifested by water retention, for example in the legs. Therapeutically, low urination in this context is treated with dehydrating medications.
Outlook and prognosis
Low urination can often be attributed to insufficient fluid intake. Low urination is then the result. The elderly in particular often drink too little. In them, the feeling of thirst is reduced. The prognosis for low urination varies. If the lack of fluid supply persists, kidney damage and dehydration can occur as consequences. In oliguria, too little fluid is excreted by the kidneys and bladder. This may indicate diseases in the urogenital tract or kidney disease. Thus, the prognosis is good only if the affected person investigates the causes. This is especially true in newborns and the elderly. However, in the case of anuria, the prognosis is poor unless a hospital or emergency physician is called immediately. There, it can be determined if there is a disease or other underlying causes. The patient can be given fluids and thoroughly checked out. Dehydration with subsequent low urination occurs when people “forget” to drink or suffer from persistent diarrhea. If increasing dehydration occurs as a result, rapid action is indicated. The prognosis is good only if dehydration is promptly reversed.
Prevention
To prevent low urination, normal fluid intake at regular intervals is vital. In addition, kidney and bladder infections, prostate complaints and water retention should be presented to the doctor in time.Many people are prone to bladder and kidney infections or heart failure, which causes the development of water retention. In this regard, medical control is the best prevention of low urination.
What you can do yourself
If you have low urination, you may suspect that you did not drink enough during the day. If the body is undersupplied with fluid, then it will not release any more in the form of urine, as it hoards it. Therefore, it helps to first drink water, tea or electrolyte-containing liquids such as sports drinks. However, this should not be done late in the evening or at night, because if large amounts of fluid are taken in at once at this time, this will lead to a nighttime urge to urinate. It would be better to supply the body with fluid in small steps. This way, there is no sudden strong urge to urinate and the body has time to absorb the ingested fluid. The case is different when low urination is accompanied by pain and the feeling of having to go to the toilet urgently anyway. Since men and women are anatomically built differently, it may be a gender-specific disease of the excretory organs, such as a problem with the prostate or a urinary tract infection. In these cases, only a visit to the doctor will help – even as an emergency if the pain is severe. Ideally, no pain medication should be taken until then, but there is nothing to stop you from trying to go to the toilet anyway until the doctor’s appointment. The doctor is also the best possible way to help children, the elderly and sick people who pass very little water and at the same time do not want to drink.