Urine retention in a child treated with oral salbutamol

It is known that voiding difficulties can be caused by some drugs, but little is known about the role about the route of administration, especially in children. We report here a case of a 3-year old Italian boy referred to the Pediatric Emergency Unit complaining of two episodes of acute urinary retention, both after therapy with oral salbutamol. In spite of recommendations to use inhaled salbutamol to treat acute wheezing, oral salbutamol is still sometimes used in some settings. Whereas other side effects of systemic salbutamol are described in children, to our knowledge this is the first description of acute urinary retention as an adverse drug reaction to oral salbutamol.