Iatrogenic Bladder Injury: National Analysis of 30-Day Outcomes

To examine the risk factors and outcomes of BI, a rare complication of abdominopelvic surgery.

We queried the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database to identify intraoperative bladder injury (BI) defined by the Current Procedural Terminology code for cystorrhaphy from 2005 to 2013. Propensity-score matching balanced the differences between patients with BI and the controls. The factors matched included age, body mass index, race, modified frailty index, and procedure category.

There were 1685 cases of BI in 1,541,736 surgeries (0.11%). Although 49.5% of surgeries were performed in an open fashion, this approach accounted for 69.3% of BI (P < .001). Prior to matching, mortality rates and morbidity were increased for the BI group (P < .001). Moreover, age, recent chemotherapy or radiation or steroid history, and smoking were among the risk factors for BI (all P < .05). Resident involvement increased the odds of BI and complications after BI, but decreased the risk of readmission (all P < .05). After matching, 30-day mortality was no longer increased for patients with BI (P < .001). Patients with BI requiring repair did have increased median length of stay (6 days [interquartile range {IQR}: 3-11] vs 5 [IQR: 2-9]; P < .001) and operative time (203 min [IQR: 140-278] vs 134 [IQR: 86-199]; P < .001). BI patients were more likely to undergo reoperation (7.7% vs 5.3%; P = .005). Urine infection, sepsis, and bleeding were more likely in the BI group compared with the matched controls (all P < .001). Delayed repair was rare.

We present the largest national series assessing iatrogenic BI and subsequent repair. BI increases 30-day complications, reoperation, and length of stay but does not increase 30-day mortality compared with matched controls. More complex surgical cases and increased baseline comorbidity were risk factors for BI.