The Feasibility And Advantages Of Immediate Removal Of Urinary Catheter After Lobectomy: A Prospective Randomized Trial

Aim: This study aims to evaluate the feasibility and advantages of immediate urinary catheter removal compared with prolonged indwelling catheterization in lung cancer lobectomy.Design: This study was designed as a prospective, single-centre, randomized and open-label clinical study.Methods: People with lung cancer undergoing lobectomy/pneumonectomy were recruited and randomly allocated to two groups. One group had their urinary catheter removed immediately while the other group had it removed 48 hr after surgery.Results: No significant difference in the incidence of postoperative urinary retention (POUR) was observed between the two groups. However, the incidence of postoperative catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) in the immediate removal group (6.7%) was lower than the control group (17.2%) (p = .030). Furthermore, the incidence of catheter-associated emergence agitation (CAEA) in the control group (25.3%) was higher than the immediate removal group (8.9%) (p = .007). The average length of hospital stay of the immediate removal group [6.51(4-11) days] was shorter than the control group [7.20(5-12) days] (p = .002). Immediate removal of urinary catheter appeared to have fewer complications and shorter hospital stay than delayed removal.