Association of acute urinary retention in postoperative patients with a urinary catheter, with and without bladder catheter clamping

INTRODUCTION: The use of a temporary or permanent catheter is very common in clinical practice. Between 15.0% and 25.0% of hospitalized patients have in-dwelling bladder catheters, the majority of which are short-term. Bladder catheter clamping before catheter removal was generally regarded as useful in the past. Today, its utility is questionable. OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between bladder catheter clamping and spontaneous micturition or acute urinary retention (AUR) in postoperative patients with short-term indwelling bladder catheter. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A descriptive, comparative, longitudinal study was conducted at a secondary care hospital center in a western Mexican state. AUR was the outcome variable. Two study groups were formed: patients with bladder catheter clamping (n=43) and the control patients with no bladder catheter clamping (n=41). Descriptive statistical analyses were performed, and percentage comparisons were made with the chi-square test. Significant predictors were subsequently added to the multivariate model. RESULTS: Fourteen percent (n=12) of all the study patients, with and without bladder catheter clamping, presented with AUR and 86% (n=72) did not. In the association analysis, there was no statistically significant difference between presenting with AUR and having or not having bladder catheter clamping (p=0.59). The associations of AUR with bladder re-catheterization (p= 0.001), age (p=0.01), and the presence of lower urinary symptoms (p= 0.005) were statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Postoperative bladder catheter clamping was not associated with the presence of AUR.