Anesthesiologists’ approach to the treatment of catheter related bladder discomfort: A survey study

INTRODUCTION: Urinary catheterization causes catheter related bladder discomfort (CRBD) in the early postoperative period following all surgeries. CRBD mostly develops after urological interventions and has two independent predictors: Male gender and urinary catheters ≥ 18F. We aimed to investigate the awareness of anesthesiology and reanimation specialists to CRBD and its treatment. METHODS: After ethics committee approval, a questionnaire with informed consent of 20 multiple-choice and open-ended questions was transferred to docs.google.com. and Turkish Society of Anesthesiology and Reanimation Specialists were contacted for contribution. RESULTS: 144 anesthesiologists, 26-66 years old (39.5±8.02 years), 54.5% males, 45.5% females, 66.4% with a teaching position and 55.5% with >10 years of experience participated. 54.4% reported encountering >1 CRBD per week and mostly following urology (70.9%), obstetrics and gynecology (52.5%) and general surgery (51.1%) cases. The frequency and severity (66% and 69.5%) of CRBD was reported higher in male patients. 94.4% agreed that CRBD should be treated. 37.8% believed the surgeon should manage CRBD, 60.1% believed it should be planned together. All male participants stated treatment was necessary (p=0.008). Participants chose preemptive (19.9%, n=28), symptomatic (80.1%, n=113) or both (4.3%, n=6) treatments. The choices for preemptive and symptomatic treatment were similar; non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (70.8%, 59%), paracetamol (43.4%, 50.7%) and tramadol (18.9%, 21.6%). Participants’ knowledge on factors effecting CRBD was lacking. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Anesthesiologists do not utilize preemptive and effective treatment for CRBD; one thirds of them do not consider it their responsibility. Anesthesiologists should be aware of CRBD and participate in the treatment using multimodal approaches.