Urinary catheter criteria:
• UC was inserted in all urgent CD, when technical difficulties were anticipated according to obstetric criteria (previous CD or abdominal surgery, full cervix dilatation CD) or when there was a high risk of postpartum hemorrhage (multifetal gestations, large for gestational age fetus). In the other cases, surgery was performed without UC.
• We defined an early removal of UC when it was removed within the first 6 h following CD. If the patient was unable to achieve spontaneous micturition 6 h after removal of the UC or when urinary retention was suspected, intermittent catheterization was performed. Those cases requiring a control of the urinary output such as women with preeclampsia, surgical bladder lesion or postpartum hemorrhage were excluded from the study.
Demographic data and surgical information including surgical times were collected, as well as time to UC removal, time to first spontaneous micturition, need for intermittent catheterization, time to first solid oral intake, time to mobilization after CD (defined as the lapse of time from surgery until sitting on a chair) and time to hospital discharge. Surgical complications such as uterine atony, urinary bladder injury and postpartum hemorrhage were collected.
We also recorded data regarding anesthetic modality (intradural versus epidural), use and doses of morphine and opioid-related complications (urinary retention, pruritus, nausea and vomiting). Numeric pain rating scale (NPRS) at 6 and 12 h after the surgery, both at rest and upon movement, was also registered.
The study protocol underwent Institutional Review Board approval [code HCB/2021/0409]. Data were analyzed using Stata vs15.