Objective To compare clean intermittent catheterisation with transurethral indwelling catheterisation for the treatment of abnormal post-void residual bladder volume (PVR) following vaginal prolapse surgery.Design Multicentre randomised controlled trial.Setting Five teaching hospitals and one non-teaching hospital in the Netherlands.Population All patients older than 18 years experiencing abnormal PVR following vaginal prolapse surgery, with or without the use of mesh. Exclusion criteria were: any neurological or anxiety disorder, or the need for combined anti-incontinence surgery.Methods All patients were given an indwelling catheter directly after surgery, which was removed on the first postoperative day. Patients with a PVR of more than 150 ml after their first void were randomised for clean intermittent catheterisation (CIC), performed by nursing staff, or for transurethral indwelling catheterisation (TIC) for 3 days.Main outcome measure Bacteriuria rate at end of treatment.Results A total of 87 patients were included in the study. Compared with the TIC group (n = 42), there was a lower risk of developing bacteriuria (14 versus 38%; P = 0.02) or urinary tract infection (UTI; 12 versus 33%; P = 0.03) in the CIC group (n = 45); moreover, a shorter period of catheterisation was required (18 hours CIC versus 72 hours TIC; P < 0.001). Patient satisfaction was similar in the two groups, and no adverse events occurred.Conclusion Clean intermittent catheterisation is preferable over indwelling catheterisation for 3 days in the treatment of abnormal PVR following vaginal prolapse surgery.Keywords Catheterisation, urinary retention, vaginal prolapse surgery.Please cite this paper as: Hakvoort R, Thijs S, Bouwmeester F, Broekman A, Ruhe I, Vernooij M, Burger M, Emanuel M, Roovers J. Comparing clean intermittent catheterisation and transurethral indwelling catheterisation for incomplete voiding after vaginal prolapse surgery: a multicentre randomised trial.

Objective To determine patient preferences for clean intermittent catheterisation (CIC) relative to transurethral indwelling catheterisation (TIC) as the treatment of abnormal postvoid residual bladder volume (PVR) following vaginal prolapse surgery.Design Scenario-based preference assessment during face-to-face interview. Setting Teaching hospital.Population A sample of consecutive patients scheduled for vaginal prolapse surgery.Methods Preference for CIC relative to TIC was assessed using written treatment scenarios. Initially, treatment duration was set at 3 days and the risk for urinary tract infection (UTI) was 30% for both interventions. Both treatment duration and UTI risk related to TIC were kept constant. Treatment duration and UTI risk after CIC were varied until patients altered their preference. In this way, the duration of catheterisation and level of UTI risk related to CIC at which patients would prefer CIC to TIC could be determined.Main outcome measures Patients' preference for CIC relative to TIC.Results When both duration of treatment and UTI risk were identical for both interventions, 64% of patients prefer CIC. Ninety-two percent of patients prefer CIC when CIC lasts 3 days but results in a 15% lower risk of UTI. Assuming that CIC results in a 15% risk of UTI, a total of 98 and 99% of patients prefer CIC to TIC when catheterisation with CIC last 2 and 1 day, respectively.Conclusions Most patients with abnormal PVR prefer CIC to TIC. The results of a recent randomised controlled trial showed that CIC resulted in a 2 days shorter catheterisation and more than 20% reduced risk of UTI. These conditions correspond to a preference of 99% of patients for CIC.