Optimal Duration of Indwelling Urinary Catheter Following Pelvic Surgery

The available research supporting the routine use of prolonged catheterization is limited and studies investigating early removal following infraperitoneal colorectal surgery have largely been underpowered to form valid practice conclusions. In the era of multimodal recovery algorithms emphasizing early diet advancement, ambulation, and shorter hospital length of stay, unnecessarily prolonging catheterization may interfere with many of these objectives. An indwelling urinary catheter interferes with early patient mobilization potentially lengthening hospitalization and subjects patients to an increased risk of urinary tract infection. A study of 2,355 consecutive patients undergoing primary colorectal cancer resection via laparotomy found an overall prevalence of postoperative urinary retention of 5.5%, however, those patients undergoing low pelvic surgery experience an almost 16% incidence in urinary retention.

Postoperative urinary catheter drainage after infraperitoneal colorectal surgery is commonly practiced, assuming some degree of nerve damage to the superior hypogastric plexus at the sacral promontory or of the nervi erigentes at the pelvic side wall resulting from pelvic dissection, causing transient or permanent dysfunction of the lower urinary tract. It has been believed that this intraoperative damage to the pelvic autonomic nerves may be associated with early postoperative acute urinary retention, and justifies an indwelling urinary catheter for several days following infraperitoneal pelvic surgery. However, there is no general agreement about the optimal duration of postoperative urinary drainage, with relevant literature reporting durations ranging from 1 to 10 days.

Prolonged indwelling urinary catheter has been associated with increased risk of urinary tract infections, with the risk of bacteriuria between 3 and 10% per day when catheterized, with the risk of urinary tract infection increasing by 5% to 10% per catheter day after the second day of catheterization. The incidence of urinary tract infections after anorectal surgery and 5 days of catheterization has been shown to range between 42% and 60%. Higher mortality rates have been reported in hospitalized patients who developed urinary tract infection after indwelling catheterization with the incidence of bacteremia after single catheterization reported to be as high as 8%.

The optimal duration of urinary drainage after infraperitoneal colorectal surgery is unknown. Based on the autonomic mechanisms of micturition in relation to the striated muscle fibers of the external urethral sphincter, alpha blockade has been studied as a potential intervention to reduce the incidence of re-catheterization. A large Cochrane Database reviewed their role in five randomized trials, with four trials favoring alpha blockade over placebo. Furthermore, the side-effect profile of alpha-blockade was low and compared favorably to placebo.

Prior studies have suggested urinary bladder catheter drainage removed on postoperative day one following pelvic surgery may be safe and decrease the incidence of urinary tract infection. However, the study was underpowered to detect meaningful conclusions. A larger study investigating the optimal duration of urinary drainage concluded that removing the catheter one day postoperatively in patients undergoing infraperitoneal colorectal surgery is appropriate, unless a low rectal carcinoma is present or lymph node metastatic disease is present. The investigators wish to further substantiate this evidence and introduce the positive findings associated with alpha-blockade in minimizing the need for re-catheterization.

The investigators therefore propose a prospective, controlled randomized trial to compare the effects of 1 day's transurethral catheterization after infraperitoneal surgery with an alpha blockade medication compared to those of 3 days of catheterization, with acute urinary retention as a primary endpoint.