Short-Term Foley Catheters fail to Reduce chances of Urinary Retention after Primary THA and TKA

228 TKA patients and 160 TKA patients were randomized to receive a short-term Foley catheter (143 male and 245 female). POUR was the primary outcome measured. UTI or urinary tract infections (within three weeks) and requirement of ≥1 straight catheterization. were secondary outcomes

The study results could be summarised as follows:

• Nine patients developed POUR, four in the short-term Foley group and 5 in the control group, 2.1% versus 2.6%.
• Males were more prone to develop POUR compared to females (88.9% versus 11.1%)
• 10 in the Foley group and 14 in the control group, 5.2% versus 7.2%, required ≥1 straight catheterization
• 3 in the Foley group and 1 in the control group, 1.5% versus 0.5% developed UTIs on intention-to-treat analysis
• Four in the Foley group and none in the control group developed UTIs (2.1% versus 0.0%) on as-treated analysis.

Concluding further, they wrote that using a short-term Foley catheter inserted in the operating room and removed on arrival to the orthopaedic floor does not decrease the rate of POUR.

Further reading:

Weintraub, Matthew T. BS1; Yang, JaeWon MD1; Nam, Denis MD, MSc1,a; Greenspoon, Joshua A. MD1; DeBenedetti, Anne MSc1; Karas, Vasili MD, MS1; Mehta, Neal MD2; Della Valle, Craig J. MD1. Short-Term Indwelling Foley Catheters Do Not Reduce the Risk of Postoperative Urinary Retention in Uncomplicated Primary THA and TKA: A Randomized Controlled Trial. The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery 105(4):p 312-319, February 15, 2023. | DOI: 10.2106/JBJS.22.00759