Validation of measures for perioperative urinary catheter use, urinary retention, and urinary catheter-related trauma in surgical patients

The effects of non-infectious urinary catheter-related complications such as measurements of indwelling urinary catheter overuse, catheter-related trauma, and urinary retention are not well understood. This was a retrospective cohort study of 200 patients undergoing general surgery operations. Variables to measure urinary catheter use, trauma, and retention were developed, then surgical cases were abstracted. Inter- and intra-rater reliability were calculated for measure validation. 129 of 200 (65%) had an indwelling urinary catheter placed at the time of surgery. 32 patients (16%) had urinary retention, and variation was observed in the treatment of urinary retention. 12 patients (6%) had urinary trauma. Rater reliability was high (>90% agreement for all) for the dichotomous outcomes of urinary catheter use, urinary catheter-related trauma, and urinary retention. This study suggests a persistent high rate of catheter use, significant rates of urinary retention and trauma, and variation in the management of retention. [Display omitted] •Urinary catheter-related complications are a common source of harm to surgical patients.•Measures of urinary catheter overuse, catheter-related trauma, and urinary retention do not exist.•We developed and validated measures of urinary catheter, use and retention in general surgery patients.•Pilot data suggest measure feasibility and targets for quality improvement.