When to Remove the Indwelling Catheter After Minimally Invasive Sacrocolpopexy? CARESS (CAtheter REmoval after Sacrocolpopexy Surgery).

Objective: The aim of the study was to determine the best practice guidelines regarding the use of indwelling catheters after minimally invasive sacrocolpopexy.

Methods: Multicenter (3 sites) randomized control trial comparing the standard overnight indwelling urethral catheterization (group 2) with removal of catheter immediately after surgery (group 1). Our primary outcome is the need for recatheterization. Secondary outcomes include the number of patients discharged with a catheter, length of hospital stay, number of urinary tract infections, patient satisfaction/pain scores, and whether patients would use the same treatment again.

Results: There were 32 patients (43.8%) in group 1 and 41 patients (56.2%) in group 2. On average, patients in group 1 required straight catheterization 0.8 (SD = 0.9) times versus 0.6 (SD = 0.9) times for group 2 (P = 0.239). The number of days with a catheter between the 2 groups was not statistically significant. There was no statistical significance between group 1 and group 2 in terms of operative time, times to leave the operating room, and hospital. Zero patients in group 1 and 2 patients in group 2 had a urinary tract infection. After dividing the groups based on whether or not they underwent a transvaginal tape procedure, the final results were similar.

Conclusions: We did not observe a difference in the risk of recatheterization or discharge home with a urinary catheter between the 2 groups. Addition of transvaginal tape to sacrocolpopexy did not show a difference in the risk of recatheterization. One reason for the lack of difference between the 2 groups could be due to a lack of power in our study.