Urinary drainage following continence surgery: development of Canadian best practice guidelines.

INTRODUCTION

Researchers evaluated the impact of a new algorithm for postoperative catheter removal with women who underwent surgery for stress incontinence.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to improve the postoperative process by developing practice guidelines for urinary drainage after surgery for urinary stress incontinence in a female population.

METHOD: The quality improvement study collected 2 years of retrospective data and 1 year of prospective data on all women who had surgery for stress incontinence. This involved a variety of surgical procedures that were performed by a small number of surgeons.

RESULTS

Burch colposuspension was the predominant procedure, and on the prospective piece of the study, with the new guidelines, time to first postoperative void decreased.

CONCLUSIONS

Fewer interventions and decreased length of stay indicated that the guidelines are evidence of improved practice.