Considering healthcare value and associated risk factors with postoperative urinary retention after elective laminectomy.

Background: Mitigating common complications such as postoperative urinary retention (POUR) following elective spine surgery is prudent. Identifying patients at risk for POUR and recognizing associated factors, to avoid a more complicated postoperative episode should be a priority and easily achievable. Understanding the financial burden of complications, such as POUR, is also important for value-based healthcare, not only for providers, but for employers and payors as well.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine patient and surgical factors that may lead to increased risk for POUR and its associated cost following elective lumbar laminectomies.

Study Design/setting: This is a retrospective study of the incidence of postoperative urinary retention after elective one- and two-level primary lumbar laminectomies.

Patient Sample: We followed patients undergoing one- and two-level primary elective lumbar laminectomies performed between April 2014 and December 2016.

Outcome Measures: Patient factors included age, gender, body-mass index, and comorbidities. Surgical factors included surgical time, intraoperative fluid volume requirements, anesthesia type, and surgical levels involved. Other outcome variables included length of stay, discharge disposition, 30-day all-cause readmissions and emergency department visits, 90-day complications, and variable direct costs.

Methods: The incidence of POUR was evaluated and compared with patient and surgical factors and cost-specific variables to identify correlations and potential risk for POUR after one- and two-level primary lumbar laminectomies.

Results: Analysis included 333 patients - 203 one-level laminectomies and 130 two-level laminectomies. The overall incidence of POUR was 17.4%. Age, male gender, and history of urinary retention were significantly associated with POUR. There was a significantly increased risk of POUR with increased surgical time, but not with anesthesia type. There were also no significant differences in body-mass index, other study comorbidities, intraoperative fluid requirements, readmission, emergency department visit, and complication rates between groups. On average, patients with POUR had a significantly longer length of stay than patients without POUR. In addition, more POUR patients were discharged to acute rehabilitation facilities and had higher average variable direct cost compared tonon-POUR patients.

Conclusions: POUR is a significant risk after elective laminectomy. This study supports several widely accepted beliefs regarding POUR risk, while challenging others. It also highlights the burden of POUR development after surgery. At our institution, we developed a protocol supported by these findings.