Bladder management in acute care of stroke patients: a quality improvement project.

A follow-up evaluation of the effectiveness of bladder management in stroke patients with voiding difficulty was conducted during the period of May-August 1995. The results of this study showed 84% of all stroke patients successfully achieved urinary continence within the first month of stroke. This promising result supports the idea that uncomplicated bladder problems in the acute phase of stroke may be addressed by a management protocol using bladder scanning to estimate volume, intermittent catheterizations/post-void residual regimens, noninvasive voiding strategies and drug therapy to facilitate effective bladder emptying.