Background: There are few reports about urinary retention rate after electi
ve cholecystectomy. We designed a prospective study to assess the problem.
Methods. A total of 121 female and 19 male patients were included in the st
udy with a prospective study protocol. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy was per
formed in 107 patients and open cholecystectomy in 33 patients.
Results: Neither gender nor age affected rate. Postoperative micturition di
fficulty developed in 10 patients. Of these patients, 9 could void with hel
ping measures, and only 1 needed catheterization. Only 1 patient who underw
ent laparoscopic surgery required catheterization (0.7%). The open approach
caused a higher incidence of postoperative micturition difficulty than did
the laparoscopic approach (15.2% versus 4.7%; P = 0.04). Only large amount
s of perioperative fluid administration and meperidine use had statisticall
y significant effects on micturition problems.
Conclusions: Urinary retention is a rare complication after elective cholec
ystectomy. Helping measures are very effective and should be tried before i
nserting a urethral catheter. (C) 2001 Excerpta Medica, Inc. All rights res
erved.