Can Early First Trial of Void after Elective Spine Surgery Reduce the Incidence of Post-Operative Urinary Retention? - Results from a Cross-Sectional Study of 195 Patients

Author(s): Shin-Jae Kim, Sang-Ho Lee, Sang Soo Eun, Sourabh Chachan

Study design: Retrospective study Object: To find the risk factors for post-operative urinary retention (POUR) and identify the controllable factors that can reduce it.

Background: Post-operative urinary retention (POUR) is one of the common postoperative complications and affects the recovery period after surgery. Authors hypothesize that early encouragement of first voiding trial after spine surgery may reduce incidence of POUR. The purpose of this study is to confirm the significance of the previously known risk factors and to evaluate the incidence of POUR according to the management of postoperative foley catheter.

Patients and methods: From June 2014 to August 2014, 215 patients who diagnosed with spinal stenosis and had under 3 levels of surgery under general anesthesia were consecutively extracted and divided as POUR group and non-POUR group. The data includes gender, age, duration of hospital stay, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, preoperative prostate disease, number of operative level, surgical method, operative time, amount of perioperative fluid, usage of patient controlled analgesia, presence of preoperative foley catheterization, foley removal time, and timing of first trial of void (TOV).

Results: Incidence of POUR is 33 out of 195 (16.9%). The risk factors that showed a significant correlation with POUR were male gender, duration of hospital stay, preoperative prostate disease, operative time, amount of perioperative fluid, long operative level (3 level), and delay of TOV.

Conclusion: This study confirmed the significance of POUR with the previously known risk factors and identified the importance of peri-operative fluid management and shortening of TOV after surgery.