Combined Spinal Epidural Urinary Retention
Combined Spinal Epidural Urinary Retention
The investigators hypothesize that many parturients can, in fact, spontaneously micturate
 with low dose combined spinal epidural analgesic doses given for labor and that Foley
 catheterization is unnecessary in the majority of these parturients. At Prentice Women's
 Hospital, almost 9000 women annually receive neuraxial labor analgesia and 98% of those
 receive Foley catheters. By potentially reducing the necessity for Foley catheters, the
 investigators should be able to ultimately reduce the rate of bacteriuria, urinary tract
 infections and urethritis leading to unnecessary treatment with antibiotics, as well as
 reduce costs of placing unnecessary Foley catheter.The hypothesis is parturients receiving
 low dose combined spinal epidural analgesia for analgesia after induction of labor who are
 randomized to a spontaneous micturition protocol will require fewer Foley catheter placements
 and demonstrate a lower incidence of positive urine culture postpartum than those who undergo
 standard Foley catheter placement.
Participation in the study will begin at the patient's request for labor analgesia. The
 patient will be asked to urinate and a post void residual (PVR) will be measured via
 ultrasonography. If the PVR is >100mL, the patient will be excluded from the study. If CSF is
 not obtained during CSE placement or the CSE technique is abandoned for any other reason, the
 patient will be excluded. If the PVR is < 100mL and the combined spinal epidural analgesia is
 successful, they will be randomized to receive either routine Foley catheter placement or
 begin the spontaneous micturition protocol. Last cervical exam and VRS pain will be recorded
 at this time.

 Subjects will be prepared in the usual fashion for the combined spinal epidural with
 hemodynamic monitoring and intravenous (IV) access.

 The anesthesiologist will perform a combined spinal epidural analgesia per routine with the
 subject in the sitting position using sterile technique at the L3-4 interspace (± one
 vertebral interspace). The epidural space will be found using loss of resistance technique
 with either 3 mL of air or saline and a 17G Touhy needle. After the epidural space is
 identified, the dura will be punctured with a 27G Pencan and 2.5mg of plain bupivacaine + 15
 μg fentanyl will be injected. The epidural catheter will be inserted to 3-5cm into the
 epidural space and a test dose of 3 mL of 1.5% lidocaine + 1:200,000 epinephrine will be
 injected. The epidural catheter will be secured and the PCEA initiated with the standard
 infusion rate and patient administered boluses using 0.06% bupivacaine + 2mcg/mL fentanyl.
 Post-procedure vital signs will be monitored in the usual fashion.

 Patients randomized to the control group will have a Foley catheter placed after the CSE is
 performed as is the usual practice at this institution. Their bladder volume will be assessed
 via ultrasonography before Foley catheter placement. The volume of urine collected in the
 Foley bag will be used to validate our ultrasonographic measurements.

 Patients randomized to the spontaneous micturition algorithm will be assessed for spontaneous
 micturition and post void residual (PVR) volumes via ultrasonography at regular time
 intervals. First, the patient's bladder volume is measured via ultrasonography; this is
 followed by an attempt at spontaneous micturition. The patient will have an attempt at
 spontaneous micturition only if their bladder contains >100mL of urine. This ensures
 inability to micturate is not due to insufficient urine in the bladder prior to their
 attempt. An ultrasonographic measurement of their postvoid residual volume will follow their
 attempt to spontaneously micturate, to ensure the patient does not have urinary retention
 necessitating Foley catheter placement.

 The first attempt at spontaneous micturition is two hours after the spinal analgesic dose is
 injected. A study by Campbell et al. demonstrated no urinary retention with this intrathecal
 dose, but it is a possibility that the spinal dose may still be present and have a differing
 effect than the epidural analgesic dose. As a result of this possibility, we decided that if
 a patient has urinary retention at this first attempt, 2 hours post injection of the spinal
 dose, they will have a straight catheterization and be given another chance at spontaneous
 micturition more than 3 hours after the spinal dose was injected. This ensures the spinal
 dose has completely worn off and the epidural analgesic dose is in effect before committing
 the patient to a bed pan or Foley catheter.

 Most patients will be evaluated at least twice for ability to spontaneously micturate and
 have their PVR volumes accessed via ultrasonography before being assigned to either a bed pan
 every 2 hours or a Foley catheter placement. If the patient is able to spontaneously
 micturate twice and their PVR is <100mL, they will be assigned to a bed pan every 2 hours. If
 a patient is unable to micturate with a PVR >100mL, they will receive a Foley catheter.

 The spontaneous micturition algorithm allows for a maximum of 3 attempts at micturition
 before a patient is committed to either a bed pan every 2 hours or Foley catheter placement.
 In the event that a patient is able to spontaneously micturate but has incomplete bladder
 emptying with a PVR 100-250mL, they will be allowed to continue in the algorithm for a third
 and final attempt at spontaneous micturition. If the patient is able to spontaneously
 micturate at this last attempt with a PVR volume <100mL, they will be assigned to a bed pan
 every 2 hours but if their PVR remains >100mL they will have a Foley catheter placed.

 On occasion, patients need a rescue bolus of higher concentration local anesthetic during
 labor for breakthrough pain. If this occurs, the usual rebolus dose of up to 15mL of
 bupivacaine 0.125% will be given in incremental doses titrated to patient comfort. Following
 this rebolus, the infusion rate will be increased to 20ml/hr as is the usual practice. If a
 patient who was previously assigned to use a bed pan every 2 hours requires a rescue bolus of
 local anesthetic, their ability to spontaneously micturate will be reassessed 2 hours
 following the rebolus to evaluate for need for reassignment to Foley catheter placement with
 the higher doses of bupivacaine.

 If a patient who was assigned to use a bed pan every 2 hours requires a second rebolus, they
 will receive another rebolus dose of up to 15mL of bupivacaine 0.125%, the concentration of
 the epidural bupivacaine infusion will be increased to bupivacaine 0.11% + fentanyl 2mcg/mL
 as is our usual practice and they will automatically be assigned to a Foley catheter
 placement.

 If a study patient requires a cesarean delivery, a Foley catheter will be inserted at time of
 decision for cesarean delivery and removed 24 hours post procedure as is the standard
 practice at our institution.

 The primary outcome (rate of positive urine culture) of this study will be assessed by
 collecting a twenty-four to forty-eight hour midstream urine sample and performing a urine
 culture. The clinical and laboratory criteria used to define a urinary tract infection in a
 woman immediately postpartum is unknown. If the patient is considered uncomplicated (normal
 female urinary physiology) then she would be treated only if she has symptoms. If the patient
 is considered complicated (pregnant urinary physiology) then she would be treated for
 bacterial growth on urine culture even if asymptomatic. For this reason and for the purpose
 of this study, if the patient is asymptomatic for urinary tract infection but has a positive
 urine culture with 50,000 colony-forming units (CFU)/mL of bacteria, the patient's
 obstetrician will be notified and they will likely be treated with antibiotics for suspected
 urinary tract infection. This is more conservative than the current guidelines for
 asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnancy. If a positive urine culture is identified and patients
 is symptomatic (at least1 sign/symptom) with the number of colonies of bacteria exceed 10,000
 CFU/ml, the obstetrician will be notified and they may be treated with antibiotics for
 suspected urinary tract infection. This is more conservative than the guidelines for
 catheter-related infections.

 In addition to the primary outcome data, the following information will be collected after
 delivery: satisfaction with bladder treatment protocol (100 mm scale, 0 mm = not satisfied at
 all, 100 mm = very satisfied), total labor duration, length of stage 2, mode of delivery,
 presence and degree of lacerations, fetal weight, duration of Foley catheterization, time to
 first spontaneous void following delivery or Foley catheter removal, total fluids
 administered during labor and total dose of epidural analgesics.

 In addition, a postvoid residual (PVR) will be assess via ultrasound at 8-24 hours following
 delivery or foley catheter removal to assess for postpartum urinary retention. If the PVR is
 found to be >100mL postpartum, this will be considered urinary retention and the obstetrician
 and co-investigator (urogynecologist) will be notified.

 The following demographic data will also be collected: maternal age, height, weight,
 pre-pregnancy weight, and gestational age.

 One telephone follow-up evaluation 8 weeks after delivery, the patient will be assessed for
 treatment of urinary tract infection and urinary retention during or after discharge from the
 hospital.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Nulliparous

 -  Term (≥37 week gestation)

 -  Healthy

 -  ASA class 1-2

 -  Who are being induced for labor who request labor analgesia and who successfully
 receive standard combined spinal epidural analgesia (verbal rating score for pain ≤ 1
 after 10 min)

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Women with ASA 3 or greater

 -  BMI ≥40 kg/m2

 -  Prior history of urge or stress incontinence or urinary retention before pregnancy

 -  Women with a history of nephrolithiasis

 -  Chronic urinary tract infections

 -  Women whose post-void residual volume as assessed by ultrasonography is found to be
 >100ml before epidural placement will be excluded.

 -  Women with an absolute or relative contraindication to the usual combined spinal
 epidural technique

 -  Failed analgesia will be excluded

 -  Women for whom the anesthesiologist selects an analgesic technique other than combined
 spinal epidural technique or fail to obtain CSF for CSE will be excluded

 -  Women with fetal heart rate decelerations before request for analgesia will be
 excluded due to increased risk of cesarean delivery.

 -  Women who experience inadequate labor analgesia due to nonfunctioning epidural
 catheter necessitating epidural replacement will be included but noted as a protocol
 violation.