Use Versus Non-use of Bladder Catheterization in Elective Cesarean Delivery

September 14, 2026 updated by: University of Calgary

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Use Versus Non-use of Bladder Catheterization in Elective Cesarean Delivery

The goal of this randomized controlled trial is to investigate the impact of routine bladder catheterization in uncomplicated cesarean sections on time to ambulation, time to discharge, urinary retention, development of urinary tract infections, prevention of bladder injury, operating time, and patient satisfaction.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

This would be a randomized controlled trial conducted on the labour and delivery and post-partum unit at a large academic site (Foothills Medical Centre) in Calgary, Alberta. Study recruitment of patients awaiting delivery via CS would occur either in participating prenatal clinics in Calgary or in obstetrical triage by a trained nurse research assistant. Participants would be randomized into either a catheterized or non-catheterized group prior to their scheduled elective CS. Allocation concealment will be ensured by using either a central computer generator for randomization if funding permits, otherwise sealed, opaque, and sequenced envelopes will be used. Since there may be potential differences in patients with increasing parity, randomization will be stratified by parity and blocked to prevent imbalance in treatment groups.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
60

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Alberta
      • Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 2T9
        • University of Calgary

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion criteria:

- women who are 18 years of age or older with a singleton pregnancy presenting for an elective primary or repeat CS.

Exclusion criteria:

- diagnosis of abnormal placentation including placenta previa, vasa previa, or suspected invasive disease

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Bladder catheterization

Patients placed in the catheterized group will have an indwelling catheter placed after anesthetic has been administered. It would be removed at 12 hours post Cesarean section.
Procedure: Bladder catheterization

Patients placed in the catheterized group will have an indwelling catheter placed after anesthetic has been administered. It would be removed at 12 hours post cesarean section.
No Intervention: Non-use of bladder catheterization

Participants in the non-catheterized group would be encouraged to empty their bladders just prior to transfer to the operating room where they will undergo surgery without an indwelling catheter.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Time to ambulation
Time Frame: Prior to discharge, assessed up to 3 days postpartum

Time to ambulation will be collected via a form that will be distributed by the postpartum nursing team.
Prior to discharge, assessed up to 3 days postpartum

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Incidence of urinary retention
Time Frame: Prior to discharge, assessed up to 3 days postpartum

Urinary retention will be defined based on a patient's inability to spontaneously void requiring either in-and-out catheterization or placement of an indwelling catheter during the post operative course
Prior to discharge, assessed up to 3 days postpartum
Incidence of urinary tract infections (UTI) requiring antibiotics in the first 4 weeks postpartum
Time Frame: first 4 weeks postpartum

Incidence of urinary tract infections (UTI) requiring antibiotics in the first 4 weeks postpartum
first 4 weeks postpartum
Incidence of bladder injury in surgery
Time Frame: During surgery

Incidence of bladder injury in surgery will be collected via an electronic post-operative questionnaire filled out by the operating surgeon.
During surgery
Operating time
Time Frame: During surgery

Operating time will be collected via an electronic post-operative questionnaire filled out by the operating surgeon.
During surgery
Patient satisfaction as measured by the Maternal Satisfaction for Cesarean Section questionnaire (MSCS)
Time Frame: At discharge, assessed up to 3 days postpartum

Patients will be asked to complete the Maternal Satisfaction for Cesarean Section questionnaire at discharge. The minimum and maximum values are 7 and 154 and higher scores mean a better outcome.
At discharge, assessed up to 3 days postpartum
Time to discharge
Time Frame: At discharge, assessed up to 3 days postpartum

Time to discharge; date and time of discharge will be collected during chart review
At discharge, assessed up to 3 days postpartum

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of Calgary

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Stephen L. Wood, MD, MSc, University of Calgary

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
August 27, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
February 18, 2026

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
February 18, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
January 19, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
February 2, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
February 5, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
September 18, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 14, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
February 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • REB24-0044

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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