Risk Factors for Prolonged Time to Discharge in Total Hip Patients Performed in an Ambulatory Surgery Center due to Complaints of the Inability to Void

Postoperative urinary retention (POUR) is among the reasons for delay in discharge after outpatient total hip arthroplasty (THA), occurring in 2%-46% of patients. We hypothesized that the frequency of POUR following outpatient THA in the ambulatory surgery center (ASC) is low compared to previously reported rates and that management can be effective in the perioperative period when it is encountered.

Three hundred seventy-seven THA patients (409 hips) who had arthroplasties in the ASC over a 5-year period were identified. Preoperatively, appropriate demographic information and medical comorbidities were collected from patient health history questionnaires completed during clinic visits. Intraoperatively, albumin volume administered and estimated blood loss were recorded. Postoperatively, post-anesthesia care unit medications, patients who reported an inability to urinate, and those who required urinary catheterization were recorded.

POUR occurred in only 2 patients but complaints of the inability to void occurred in 38 others for an incidence of 9.8%. Factors associated with POUR and the inability to urinate included older age, time spent in the ASC, and intraoperatively albumin volume administered. No significant differences were found in body mass index, preoperative hematocrit, estimated blood loss, surgical time, or operating time.

POUR was infrequent but the reported inability to urinate was not (9.8%) and can be safely managed when it does occur and we found that increased age and albumin volume over 500 mL may increase the risk for a prolonged length of stay due to the inability to urinate.