Optimal Duration of Indwelling Urinary Catheter Following Pelvic Surgery

Prospective Study Investigating Optimal Duration of Indwelling Urinary Catheter Following Infraperitoneal Colorectal Surgery and Role of Postoperative Alpha Blockade

There is no general agreement about the optimal duration of postoperative urinary drainage, with relevant literature reporting durations ranging from 1 to 10 days. 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. The aim of the investigators study is to determine whether a postoperative colorectal patient can safely have an indwelling catheter removed on postoperative day one (24 hours following surgery) with the addition of a study medication (prazosin), without a statistically significant difference in the incidence of urinary retention compared to the standard, accepted approach of delayed removal (72 hours postoperatively). Patients undergoing laparoscopic and open pelvic colorectal surgery below the peritoneal reflection for both benign and malignant conditions will be randomized into two groups: group one will have the catheter removed on postoperative day 3 (72 hours postoperatively) Group 2 will have a dose of the alpha-blocker prazosin given 6 hours prior to catheter removal and will have the urinary catheter removed on postoperative day 1 (24 hours postoperatively).

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Urinary Retention
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Prazosin given 6 hours prior to catheter removal in the 24 hour group

Detailed Description

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.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 142
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90048
      • Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (ADULT, OLDER_ADULT)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Able to freely give written informed consent to participate in the study and have signed the Informed Consent Form;
2. Males or females, >18 years of age inclusive at the time of study screening;
3. American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Class I-III;
4. Infraperitoneal colorectal surgery (open and/or laparoscopic);
5. Elective Surgery

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Mentally incompetent or unable or unwilling to provide informed consent or comply with study procedures;
2. Children <18;
3. No perioperative antibiotics;
4. Past or current urinary tract malignancy;
5. Urinary catheter inserted before surgery;
6. Chronic kidney insufficiency with Creatinine> 2
7. Diagnosis of benign prostatic hyperplasia
8. Chronic urinary infections
9. Neurogenic bladder
10. History of enterovesical fistula
11. Pregnancy
12. Prior surgery of the lower urinary tract
13. Epidural
14. Perioperative ureteral stents

After randomization:

1. Catheter pulled out inadvertently;
2. Postoperative complications requiring prolonged monitoring of urine output
3. Postoperative complications requiring early reoperation

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: PARALLEL
• Masking: NONE

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: 24 hour postop catheter removal; group will receive the study medication prazosin ( 1 mg PO) 6 hours prior to catheter discontinuation (24 hours postoperatively)	Drug: Prazosin given 6 hours prior to catheter removal in the 24 hour group; Prazosin given orally (1 mg) 6 hours prior to catheter removal (hour 18 postoperatively); Other Names: Minipress; Vasoflex; Pressin; Hypovase
NO_INTERVENTION: 72 hour postoperative catheter removal; catheter removed on postoperative day 3 (72 hours postoperatively)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of Participants With Acute Urinary Retention	Acute urinary retention will be defined as catheter discontinuation with inability to void 6 hours post-removal, or void with post-void residual greater than 200 cc of urine.	Postoperative day 1 or postpoperative 3 depending on group randomization

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of Participants With a Symptomatic Urinary Tract Infection	Urinary tract infection defined as symptomatic urinary complaints such as dysuria, with urinalysis consistent with infection.	During 1 week of hospitalization (prior to discharge)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Ellahi A, Stewart F, Kidd EA, Griffiths R, Fernandez R, Omar MI. Strategies for the removal of short-term indwelling urethral catheters in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2021 Jun 29;6(6):CD004011. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD004011.pub4.
• Patel DN, Felder SI, Luu M, Daskivich TJ, N Zaghiyan K, Fleshner P. Early Urinary Catheter Removal Following Pelvic Colorectal Surgery: A Prospective, Randomized, Noninferiority Trial. Dis Colon Rectum. 2018 Oct;61(10):1180-1186. doi: 10.1097/DCR.0000000000001206.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ACTUAL): November 30, 2012
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): November 22, 2017
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): November 22, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 29, 2013
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 13, 2013
• First Posted (ESTIMATE): August 15, 2013

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): February 20, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 30, 2019
• Last Verified: January 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: duration; indwelling catheter; foley
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Urologic Diseases; Urination Disorders; Urinary Retention; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Adrenergic Antagonists; Adrenergic Agents; Neurotransmitter Agents; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Antihypertensive Agents; Adrenergic alpha-1 Receptor Antagonists; Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists; Prazosin
• Other Study ID Numbers: 00029210