Postoperative urinary retention: evaluation of patients using opioids analgesic.

The study aimed to determine the occurrence of urinary retention in patients using opioid analgesic and to describe the method used for vesical relief. A prospective and consecutive series of 1,316 patients undergoing surgery from September 1999 to April 2003 and using opioids post surgery were studied. From the 1,136 patients, 594 did not use urinary catheters pre-surgery. From these 594 patients, 128 (22%) suffered post operative urinary retention. Urinary retention was significantly related to the use of continuous epidural analgesia (p=0.009). About 69% of patients experiencing urinary retention post surgery returned to spontaneous micturition following a single catheterization. The incidence found of urinary retention was similar to the literature, more frequent in men who received continuous epidural analgesia. The findings suggest orientation and careful nursing team observation of post operative micturition, emphasizing the intermittent aseptically catheterization for urinary retention in order to prevent potential complications of the urinary tract.