Evaluation of Early Removal of Urinary Catheter after Rectal Cancer Surgery

It is a common practice to catheterize the bladder during major surgical procedure and leave the catheter in situ to avoid post-operative urinary complications such as retention or incontinence. Catheter removal on post-operative day 5 is a routine, and it causes some urinary problems and longer hospital stay. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of early removal of urinary catheter on the 1st day after rectal cancer surgery, on the rate of urinary complications.
This quasi-experimental study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Iran. 80 patients with rectal cancer underwent surgery at Imam Hossein Hospital from 2015 to 2016, were recruited with planned early removal of urinary catheter after surgery. Personal and disease information was recorded in all patients after obtaining the informed consent. Urinary complications were checked by the surgical resident after the operation.
Mean age of participants was 56.64 ± 14.90 (range: 22-84 years). From these patients 46 (57.5%) were male, and 34 (42.5%) were female. Two cases (2.5%) were manifested urinary problems in men. One of them reported urinary retention and the other one had hematuria. Both patients were in Stage III of rectal cancer and had laparoscopic surgery. Urinary incontinence was not reported in any patients.
In patients who undergoing rectal cancer surgery, urinary catheter can be removed on the 1st post-operative day without any significant increase in urinary complications.