Patient-Reported Complications of Urinary Catheters

At any given time, about 20% of inpatients have indwelling urethral catheters, but they confer excess risk for urinary tract infections. Noninfectious complications also occur, although we know less about them. In this prospective study of ≈2000 patients (71% men) at four U.S. hospitals, researchers identified patient-reported infectious and noninfectious complications associated with urethral catheters during 2 years. Patients were interviewed within 3 days of catheter insertion, and follow-up assessments were conducted at 14 and 30 days.

Approximately 60% of patients reported at least one complication within the 30-day follow-up. Noninfectious complications (i.e., pain or discomfort, leaking urine, urgency or bladder spasms, blood in the u…