Investigating the timing of catheter removal after traumatic bladder injury: a single-institution 12-year experience

Introduction Traumatic bladder injuries, although rare, may result in significant patient morbidity. Operative management is recommended for intraperitoneal (IP), mixed, and select extraperitoneal (EP) injuries. Current guidelines lack recommendations on catheter duration following operative repair...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Thomas Carver, Danielle J Wilson, Isaac Melin, Nayan Shah, R Corey O’Connor
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2025-03-01
Series:Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open
Online Access:https://tsaco.bmj.com/content/10/1/e001693.full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850275675413413888
author Thomas Carver
Danielle J Wilson
Isaac Melin
Nayan Shah
R Corey O’Connor
author_facet Thomas Carver
Danielle J Wilson
Isaac Melin
Nayan Shah
R Corey O’Connor
author_sort Thomas Carver
collection DOAJ
description Introduction Traumatic bladder injuries, although rare, may result in significant patient morbidity. Operative management is recommended for intraperitoneal (IP), mixed, and select extraperitoneal (EP) injuries. Current guidelines lack recommendations on catheter duration following operative repair and suggest follow-up cystography may be unnecessary for simple, repaired injuries. This has led to practice variation in postoperative management at our institution. We hypothesized that the trauma surgery service would have a shorter catheter duration and obtain fewer follow-up cystograms compared with the urology service, without increased complications.Methods A retrospective review was conducted at a single level 1 trauma center between January 2010 and December 2022. All patients with traumatic bladder injuries during this period were included from the trauma registry. Those who were <18 years of age, lacked a full-thickness injury, died within 7 days of presentation, had a concomitant urethral injury or complex injury, did not undergo surgical repair, were lost to follow-up, underwent surgical management elsewhere, or had an iatrogenic injury were excluded. Data on patient demographics, management, and complications were recorded. Injuries were classified as complex when involving the trigone, ureters, or bladder neck, or were described as complex in the operative report.Results Of the 178 patients identified, 86 met the inclusion criteria. IP injuries were most common (43%), followed by EP (31%), and mixed (26%). Patient outcomes following the repair of simple injuries were similar regardless of the team performing the repair, although differences in catheter duration (11 days vs 17 days, p=0.006) and use of postoperative cystography (77% vs 100%, p<0.001) were observed (trauma vs urology, respectively).Conclusion Variations in postoperative management regarding catheter drainage and follow-up imaging for simple bladder repairs resulted in similar leak and complication rates. Our findings present an opportunity to reduce the duration of postoperative catheter drainage and cystography use in simple repairs.Level of evidence IV.
format Article
id doaj-art-2d0be55462c4445ea90c40b7d89457a8
institution OA Journals
issn 2397-5776
language English
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher BMJ Publishing Group
record_format Article
series Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open
spelling doaj-art-2d0be55462c4445ea90c40b7d89457a82025-08-20T01:50:39ZengBMJ Publishing GroupTrauma Surgery & Acute Care Open2397-57762025-03-0110110.1136/tsaco-2024-001693Investigating the timing of catheter removal after traumatic bladder injury: a single-institution 12-year experienceThomas Carver0Danielle J Wilson1Isaac Melin2Nayan Shah3R Corey O’Connor4Department of Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USADepartment of Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USADepartment of Urology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USADepartment of Urology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USADepartment of Urology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USAIntroduction Traumatic bladder injuries, although rare, may result in significant patient morbidity. Operative management is recommended for intraperitoneal (IP), mixed, and select extraperitoneal (EP) injuries. Current guidelines lack recommendations on catheter duration following operative repair and suggest follow-up cystography may be unnecessary for simple, repaired injuries. This has led to practice variation in postoperative management at our institution. We hypothesized that the trauma surgery service would have a shorter catheter duration and obtain fewer follow-up cystograms compared with the urology service, without increased complications.Methods A retrospective review was conducted at a single level 1 trauma center between January 2010 and December 2022. All patients with traumatic bladder injuries during this period were included from the trauma registry. Those who were <18 years of age, lacked a full-thickness injury, died within 7 days of presentation, had a concomitant urethral injury or complex injury, did not undergo surgical repair, were lost to follow-up, underwent surgical management elsewhere, or had an iatrogenic injury were excluded. Data on patient demographics, management, and complications were recorded. Injuries were classified as complex when involving the trigone, ureters, or bladder neck, or were described as complex in the operative report.Results Of the 178 patients identified, 86 met the inclusion criteria. IP injuries were most common (43%), followed by EP (31%), and mixed (26%). Patient outcomes following the repair of simple injuries were similar regardless of the team performing the repair, although differences in catheter duration (11 days vs 17 days, p=0.006) and use of postoperative cystography (77% vs 100%, p<0.001) were observed (trauma vs urology, respectively).Conclusion Variations in postoperative management regarding catheter drainage and follow-up imaging for simple bladder repairs resulted in similar leak and complication rates. Our findings present an opportunity to reduce the duration of postoperative catheter drainage and cystography use in simple repairs.Level of evidence IV.https://tsaco.bmj.com/content/10/1/e001693.full
spellingShingle Thomas Carver
Danielle J Wilson
Isaac Melin
Nayan Shah
R Corey O’Connor
Investigating the timing of catheter removal after traumatic bladder injury: a single-institution 12-year experience
Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open
title Investigating the timing of catheter removal after traumatic bladder injury: a single-institution 12-year experience
title_full Investigating the timing of catheter removal after traumatic bladder injury: a single-institution 12-year experience
title_fullStr Investigating the timing of catheter removal after traumatic bladder injury: a single-institution 12-year experience
title_full_unstemmed Investigating the timing of catheter removal after traumatic bladder injury: a single-institution 12-year experience
title_short Investigating the timing of catheter removal after traumatic bladder injury: a single-institution 12-year experience
title_sort investigating the timing of catheter removal after traumatic bladder injury a single institution 12 year experience
url https://tsaco.bmj.com/content/10/1/e001693.full
work_keys_str_mv AT thomascarver investigatingthetimingofcatheterremovalaftertraumaticbladderinjuryasingleinstitution12yearexperience
AT daniellejwilson investigatingthetimingofcatheterremovalaftertraumaticbladderinjuryasingleinstitution12yearexperience
AT isaacmelin investigatingthetimingofcatheterremovalaftertraumaticbladderinjuryasingleinstitution12yearexperience
AT nayanshah investigatingthetimingofcatheterremovalaftertraumaticbladderinjuryasingleinstitution12yearexperience
AT rcoreyoconnor investigatingthetimingofcatheterremovalaftertraumaticbladderinjuryasingleinstitution12yearexperience