Experience on Early Urethral Catheter Removal Following Radical Prostatectomy

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To assess outcomes from patients who underwent radical prostatectomy and had their indwelling urinary catheter removed on postoperative day (POD) 4 or 7. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The medical records of 107 consecutive patients receiving radical prostatectomy (RP), were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were categorized into two groups according to length of catheterization. Group 1 (n=40) had the urethral catheter removed on postoperative day (POD) 4, and group 2 (n=67) had the catheter removed on POD7. Group 1 had urethral catheter removal following no leakage on intraoperative leak testing and POD4 cystography, whilst group 2 exhibited leakage at POD4 and instead had routine POD7 urethral catheter removal if there was evidence of no leakage of POD7 cystography. Incontinence was checked according to the use of protective pad. RESULTS: The mean age of the study population was 67.0 years. acute urinary retension (AUR) following catheter removal occurred in 6 of the cohort (5.6%); 3 patients (7.5%) from group 1 and 3 (4.5%) from group 2 (p=0.669). The overall continence rate was 39.3%, 68.2%, 80.4%, and 91.6% at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months respectively. Importantly, the incontinence recovery pace of group 1 was notably higher than that of group 2 (p=0.001). Neither group exhibited bladder neck contracture. Intraoperative factors influencing the decision to remove catheter at POD4 following RP, are bladder neck reconstruction (OR=3.792, p=0.010) and nerve sparing (OR=6.646, p=0.008). CONCLUSIONS: Selective early urethral catheter removal may shorten the length of incontinence recovery, without increasing the risk of AUR and bladder neck contracture.