Postoperative Urinary Retention and Urinary Track Infection (UTI) After Laparoscopic Assisted Vaginal Hysterectomy (LAVH) for Benign Disease
Postoperative Urinary Retention and Urinary Track Infection (UTI) After Laparoscopic Assisted Vaginal Hysterectomy (LAVH) for Benign Disease
With the advent of minimally invasive surgery, laparoscopic assisted vaginal hysterectomy
 (LAVH) is currently advocated as an alternative to abdominal hysterectomy. Reported benefits
 of LAVH in short-term study, when compared with the abdominal hysterectomy, include shorter
 hospital stays and convalescence, less postoperative pain, lower morbidity. To our best
 knowledge, no study has been conducted to examine bladder catheterization is associated with
 PUR and UTI after LAVH. No study has been performed to evaluate the long-term sequelae of PUR
 after LAVH.

 In this study, 150 patients undergoing LAVH are randomly assigned to have an indwelling Foley
 catheter for 0 (n = 50), at 7AM-8AM in the morning of postoperative day 1 (n = 50), at
 7AM-8AM in the morning of postoperative day 2 (n = 50) after the procedure by selecting a
 sealed envelope, which is opened before the operation. The inclusion criteria are uterine
 fibroids, endometriosis, abnormal bleeding, uterine prolapse and intra-epithelial neoplasia
 of the cervix grade 3. Patients are excluded if they experienced pelvic reconstructive
 surgery for pelvic organ prolapse or stress urinary incontinence; if they have bacteriuria
 and clinical urinary tract symptoms, e.g. dysuria, frequency, urgency and stress incontinence
 before surgery. After surgery, all patients stay at least 2 days in the hospital. The
 incidences of febrile morbidity and other postoperative complications are recorded. The
 outcome is assessed as immediate postoperative urinary tract symptoms, urinary tract
 bacteriuria (defined as a positive culture > 105 organisms/µl), postoperative fever > 38°C
 and urinary retention or the inability to pass urine 6 hours after catheter remove. All
 patients are followed up at 3 months and one year after surgery. To demonstrate quality of
 life of women after undergo LAVH, a generic instrument of MOS Short Form 36 (SF-36) and two
 specific instruments for urinary problems, Incontinence Impact Questionnaire (IIQ7) and
 Urinary Distress Inventory (UDI) are asked to answer in all patients before surgery and
 postoperative follow-up. All data are analyzed by the two-tailed Fisher exact test when
 appropriate. Correlation coefficients are calculated to determine the associations of
 preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative factors with the incidence of postoperative
 urinary retention and positive urine cultures. A value of p < 0.05 is considered
 statistically significant.
Hysterectomy is the most common major gynecological operation performed; in previous study,
 20% of women will have undergone a hysterectomy by the age of 50 years, mostly for
 nonmalignant conditions such as uterine fibroids, endometriosis, abnormal bleeding, uterine
 prolapse and intra-epithelial neoplasia of the cervix grade 3. (1) Fever is the most common
 perioperative complication of hysterectomy, arising in about 25%. (2) The other early
 complications associated with hysterectomy including hemorrhage, infection, and injury to
 adjacent organs, femoral neuropathy, and thromboembolic disease. (3) However, whether
 hysterectomy is linked to the development of urinary symptoms remains controversial. Some
 groups observed no effect or improved urinary dysfunction after hysterectomy, (4-7) others
 reported that hysterectomy is the cause of a variety of urinary symptoms including the
 urethral syndrome, stress incontinence, detrusor overactivity and voiding difficulty. (8, 9)
 Voiding difficulty in the female is a condition in which the bladder fails to empty
 completely and easily after micturition. Failure to detect voiding difficulties after surgery
 may lead to bladder overdistention and irreversible damage of the detrusor muscle. (10)
 Postoperative urinary retention (PUR) is defined as the inability to void with a full bladder
 during the postoperative period. The etiology of PUR involves a combination of many factors,
 including sedation, type of anesthesia, increased sympathetic stimulation, overdistension of
 bladder by large quantities of fluids given intravenously, pain and anxiety. (11) In the
 literature, incidence of postoperative urinary retention (PUR) has ranged from 3.8% to 80%,
 depending on the definition used and the type of surgery performed. (12-15) There is no
 consensus on how to diagnose PUR and various criteria, such as clinical symptoms, bladder
 palpation and a fixed time interval or drainage by catheterization of more than 500 ml of
 urine, have been used. (16) Traditionally gynecologists have used an indwelling catheter for
 abdominal surgical procedures for several reasons, including the beliefs that women would be
 unable to void satisfactorily in the immediate postoperative period, that the indwelling
 catheter provided the only reliable method of assuring adequate exposure, and that a catheter
 would be necessary in the recording of intake-output. In fact, prompted by women's dislike of
 the catheter as well as an increased incidence of postoperative urinary tract infection
 (UTI). (17) The potential sequelae of UTI include gram-negative bacteremia, antimicrobial
 toxicity, chronic bacteriuria and chronic renal disease. (18) In most cases the infection is
 mild and easily treated, but UTI is the commonest nosocomial infection and leads to increased
 morbidity and treatment costs. (18-20) Some North American studies addressing postoperative
 UTI have been confounded by the use of perioperative antibiotics, (17, 21) suggesting UTI
 rates of 3-10%, whereas British work has suggested a rate of 35% in control patients
 receiving no antibiotics. (22) It has been estimated that the risk of UTI associated with
 indwelling catheterization is 5-10% per day of catheterization (18) and that the commonest
 cause of UTI in hospital is urinary catheterization (23). Short-term catheterization has been
 associated with subsequent bacterial colony counts of > 105/ml of urine in 21% of women
 undergoing minor surgery, (24) and the incidence of positive urine cultures rises with the
 length of time catheterization is continued. (17, 18) In a randomized trial study for the
 effect of prophylactic antibiotics on the postoperative UTI in patients undergoing abdominal
 hysterectomy, Ireland et al found single dose cotrimoxazole is effective in reducing the
 incidence of postoperative UTI from 35% in the control group to 4% in the treated group. (25)
 Hakvoort et al studied whether prolonged urinary bladder catheterization after vaginal
 prolapse surgery is advantageous. (26) They found that residual volumes > 200 ml and need for
 recatheterization occurred in 9% in the 4 days catheterization group versus 40% of patients
 in the one day catheterization group (OR 0.15, 95% CI 0.045-0.47). Positive urine cultures
 were found in 40% of cases in the 4 days catheterization group versus 4% of patients in the
 one day catheterization group (OR 15, 95% CI 3.2-68.6). By contrast, in a prospective study
 of postoperative infection after abdominal and vaginal gynecological surgery, Kingdom et al
 reported 40% of 115 patients receiving no prophylactic antibiotics developed a UTI in the
 postoperative period and this was not clearly related to the need for postoperative
 catheterization. (25) Since prolonged indwelling urinary catheterization may be associated
 with an increased risk of UTI, increasing patient morbidity and potentially prolonging the
 hospital stay (18), prophylactic antibiotics and a reduction in catheter time or no catheter
 after surgery might be expected to reduce this risk.

 Regarding the relationship of bladder catheterization with PUR, in published data of
 prospective or retrospective studies on PUR after abdominal or vaginal hysterectomy, we found
 that several factors of postoperative care affect the result of PUR including type of
 surgery, use of catheter, duration of catheterization, and postoperative analgesia. (16, 17,
 25, 27-30) During 4-year period, Summitt et al have not used postoperative bladder catheter
 drainage after routine vaginal hysterectomy. (28) To assess the potential differences in
 postoperative outcome, they prospectively compared the use of indwelling bladder catheter
 drainage with no catheter use after standard vaginal hysterectomy. Their data showed 2
 patients in the catheterized group required recatheterization after the catheters were
 removed; none in the no-catheter group required a catheter. The results inferred that
 indwelling catheterization appears unnecessary after routine vaginal hysterectomy. In a
 prospective randomized trial study, Dobbs et al compared the infection rate and postoperative
 morbidity between indwelling catheterization and in-out catheterization at the time of
 abdominal hysterectomy. (27) Of the 95 patients in their study, 36% of that undergoing in-out
 catheterization had PUR, requiring bladder emptying, compared with 4% of those receiving an
 indwelling catheter. In addition, 29% of the catheterized group had urinary tract bacteriuria
 compared with 13% of the uncatheterized group. They concluded that in-out urinary
 catheterization at the time of routine abdominal hysterectomy was associated with a
 significantly higher incidence of PUR compared with indwelling catheterization, and may have
 implications for long-term bladder function. (27) Dobbs et al also pointed out that abdominal
 muscular pain when the intra-abdominal pressure is increased during voiding coupled with the
 decreased sensation for voiding due to analgesia, suggests that an indwelling catheter in the
 immediate postoperative period will help to prevent long-term morbidity from bladder atony.
 Bodker and Lose presented the prevalence of PUR was 9.2% in their patients receiving
 gynecological surgery. (16) Of 124 patients undergoing abdominal hysterectomy, 13.7% had PUR.
 Of 24 patients undergoing laparoscopic assisted vaginal hysterectomy (LAVH), 8.7% had PUR.
 They concluded patients at risk of PUR are difficult to predict. The risk is higher after
 laparotomy than after laparoscopy. A retention rate of 13.7% after abdominal hysterectomy is
 fairly similar to that of 11.8% after gynecologic laparotomies reported by Schiotz, (29) Who
 used an indwelling Foley catheter routinely for 20-24 hours to ascertain the risks of UTI and
 aymptomatic bacteriuria. Based on 949 gynecologic laparotomies without the use of catheters
 but with bladder needling at the end of surgery, Bartzen and Halferty found that 26% needed
 catheterization. (17) They suggested that abstaining from the use of an indwelling catheter
 was also associated with lower cost and greater patient satisfaction.

 With the advent of minimally invasive surgery, LAVH is currently advocated as an alternative
 to abdominal hysterectomy. Reported benefits of LAVH in short-term study, when compared with
 the abdominal hysterectomy, include shorter hospital stays and convalescence, less
 postoperative pain, lower morbidity, and, in some series, greater cost-effectiveness. (31-35)
 Whereas benefits of LAVH in long-term follow-up, only few studies have appeared in the
 literature. A report from Taiwan, Shen et al compared 1-month and 8-year follow-up of LAVH
 and abdominal hysterectomy. In their 8-year follow-up showed no statistically significant
 differences in vaginal vault prolapse, cystocele, rectocele, enterocele, postcoital bleeding,
 and cuff granulation between LAVH and abdominal hysterectomy procedures. (36) However, with
 regard to the consequences of PUR and UTI after LAVH, to our best knowledge, no study has
 been conducted to examine bladder catheterization is associated with this problem.
 Furthermore, no study has been performed to evaluate the long-term sequelae of PUR after
 LAVH.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  Uterine fibroids

 -  Endometriosis

 -  Abnormal bleeding

 -  Uterine prolapse and intra-epithelial neoplasia of the cervix grade 3

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  If they experienced pelvic reconstructive surgery for pelvic organ prolapse or stress
 urinary incontinence

 -  If they have bacteriuria and clinical urinary tract symptoms, e.g. dysuria, frequency,
 urgency and stress incontinence before surgery