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.