Anticipating Urinary Retention Following Total Hip and Total Knee Replacements.

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic Surgery
• Anesthesiology
• Urology

Background:

• Urinary retention is a known postoperative complication.
• Lower limb arthroplasty is anecdotally associated with high rates of urinary retention.
• No current standards exist to identify high-risk patients for urinary retention after arthroplasty.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the incidence of postoperative urinary retention in patients undergoing lower limb arthroplasty.
• To identify risk factors for urinary retention in this patient cohort.

Main Methods:

• A prospective study of 100 patients undergoing total hip or knee replacements.
• Data collected on patient demographics, anesthetic type, and postoperative urinary retention requiring catheterization.

Main Results:

• 38% of patients experienced postoperative urinary retention requiring catheterization.
• Male patients (46%) had a significantly higher risk than females (30%) (p=0.009).
• Patients over 75 years old had a significantly higher risk than those younger than 75 (p=0.04).
• No significant difference in retention rates was observed between general and spinal anesthesia.

Conclusions:

• Lower limb arthroplasty is associated with higher urinary retention rates than general surgery.
• Male sex and age over 75 are significant risk factors for urinary retention.
• Routine intraoperative catheterization may be considered for male patients and those over 75 undergoing lower limb arthroplasty.