A comparison of the urological complications associated with long-term management of quadriplegics with and without chronic indwelling urinary catheters

Abstract

The primary objective of this retrospective study was to compare the incidence of urological complications and renal deterioration in post-traumatic quadriplegic patients managed with or without a chronic indwelling urinary catheter. The charts of 57 consecutive patients who sustained traumatic cervical spinal cord injury between 1970 and 1980 were reviewed. All of the patients received the initial management or rehabilitation therapy at our institution. The unique features of this clinical review are that a large cohort of patients was followed for a minimum of 10 years, none of the 57 consecutive patients was lost to followup and a yearly excretory urogram provided an objective assessment of the renal units. The followup, and mechanism, level and degree of injury for the 32 patients managed with and 25 managed without a catheter were similar. Overall, the incidences of renal and bladder calculi, pyelonephritis, gross hematuria, penile/urethral erosion, urosepsis, urethral stricture, epididymitis and pyonephrosis were not significantly different in the catheterized and noncatheterized groups. The Kaplan-Meier analysis of the most recent excretory urogram demonstrated that the incidence of renal deterioration was also equivalent in the catheterized and noncatheterized groups. Our study suggests that the decision to manage quadriplegics with or without an indwelling catheter should not be based on relative risk of complications or renal deterioration. The decision to avoid an indwelling catheter in these patients should reflect patient comfort, convenience and quality of life.