Aim

To estimate the impact of the use of porTable bladder volumetric ultrasound on bladder catheterization due to suspicion of urinary retention in an internal medicine unit.

Methodology

Study of retrospective cohorts, comparing the cohort exposed to the availability of bladder ultrasound, with the not exposed the previous year. All records in the Electronic Medical Record (EHR) of short-term permanent bladder catheters in adult patients admitted to the Internal Medicine hospitalization unit of the University Hospital Fundación Alcorcón (HUFA) during the years 2015 and 2016 were analyzed. The urinary retention frequency is estimated as the cause of the catheterization after the device has been incorporated into the unit and compared with the frequency of catheterization during the same period of the previous year in the same unit. It is estimated that the impact of having this device on the urinary retention frequency is the reason for the catheterization.

Results

134 catheters are included in 113 patients, 62 in the group without ultrasound and 72 in the group with ultrasound. The frequency of catheterizations due to retention is reduced from 47.5% to 21.4% after introducing the ultrasound unit into the unit. This represents a 50% reduction (adjusted RR=0.48; CI95%:0.27-0.84, p=0.01) in the frequency of urinary catheterization for suspected urinary retention.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in English | Spanish     · English ( pdf ) | Spanish ( pdf )