The effect of clamping the indwelling urinary catheter before removal in cervical cancer patients after radical hysterectomy

Abstract

Aims and objectives: To determine the effect of clamping the indwelling urinary catheter before its removal on bladder reconditioning in patients with cervical cancer after radical hysterectomy.

Background: It is suggested that indwelling urinary catheters should be clamped intermittently to fill the bladder and restore bladder function before removal. However, indwelling urinary catheter clamping showed no effect on bladder reconditioning according to some clinical studies.

Design: Randomised controlled study.

Methods: A total of 210 patients with cervical cancer after type C radical hysterectomy were randomised on 1:2 into two groups. In the clamping group, indwelling urinary catheters were clamped intermittently for 48 hours before removal based on a bladder-training sheet, while in the control group, the indwelling urinary catheters were removed without clamping. The primary outcome of the study was the rate of recatheterisation. The secondary outcomes included residual urine volume 24 hours after removal, incidence of urinary tract infection and duration of recatheterisation.

Results: Seventy patients were assigned to the clamping group and 128 to the control group with paralleled baseline characteristics. The days of the primary catheterisation (13·20 ± 0·79 vs. 13·38 ± 1·04) and the incidence of urinary tract infection (22·9% vs. 20·3%) had no significant differences between the two groups. Ten patients in the clamping group and 19 in the control group underwent recatheterisation, the incidence of which showed no significant difference (14·3% vs. 14·8%). The days of recatheterisation were not statistically different between the two groups (11·40 ± 6·75 vs. 9·42 ± 5·23). However, the residual urine volume 24 hours after removal was higher in the clamping group than that in the control group.

Conclusions: Bladder recondition through indwelling urinary catheter clamping may not restore bladder function in patients after radical hysterectomy.

Relevance to clinical practice: As indwelling urinary catheter clamping may increase the residual urine volume after indwelling urinary catheter removal and lead to an increased nursing workload, it should not be recommended in patients with cervical cancer postoperatively.

Keywords: bladder reconditioning; cervical cancer; indwelling urinary catheter; radical hysterectomy.