Does anticholinergic medication have a role in treating men with overactive bladder and benign prostatic hyperplasia?

This review discusses the available evidence concerning the use of anticholinergic drugs, alone or in combination with alpha-adrenoceptor antagonists, in men with lower urinary tract symptoms due to benign prostatic hyperplasia, benign prostatic enlargement, or benign prostatic obstruction and concomitant overactive bladder syndrome. We emphasize the safety and efficacy of anticholinergic agents in treating men with benign prostatic obstruction. Several recent studies of men with an overactive bladder suggest that combination therapy of anticholinergic and alpha-adrenoceptor antagonists improves the symptoms effectively without increasing the incidence of acute urinary retention.