Postpartum Urinary Retention And Its Treatment

Postpartum urinary retention means the inability to urinate spontaneously 6 to 12 hours after subcutaneous delivery. The most common cause of postpartum urinary retention is the inability of the pelvic floor to relax after childbirth. It may be worse after a particularly painful episiotomy (perineal surgery) or assisted delivery.

For this reason, it is important to maintain good pain relief and take appropriate measures. This relaxes the pelvic floor and allows the patient to urinate.

Postpartum urinary retention: different types

Postpartum urinary retention can be classified as follows:

• Symptomatic. There is pain associated with urination.
• Latent or asymptomatic. In this case, there is a lot of urine left in the bladder after urination. The volume is 150 ml or more after spontaneous urination on the first day after delivery.

Risk factors

Next, we will talk about the risk factors that contribute to the onset of this ailment. If any of these conditions occur in a patient, it does not automatically mean that the patient will definitely suffer from urinary incontinence, only its likelihood increases.

• Prolonged first and second stages of delivery
• Assisted lower birth
• Epidural
• A woman gives birth for the first time

Experts also consider perineal surgery and baby birth weight as risk factors for asymptomatic urinary tract. Early detection of risk factors is very important as it can take the right precautions to reduce the harms of childbirth. This can also be used to determine appropriate treatment to restore bladder function.

Diagnosis

In most cases, postpartum urinary retention is symptomatic when the patient is unable to urinate spontaneously 6 to 12 hours after delivery.

Postpartum urinary retention: treatment of patients

Patients should urinate within 12 hours of a normal birth or assisted delivery. Patients undergoing caesarean section should urinate for the first few hours after catheter removal, i.e., approximately 12 hours after surgery.

If this does not happen within this time, doctors must optimize treatment with painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs, and the patient must also be placed in a temporary catheter. This allows doctors to assess a patient’s urine output and adjust the amount of water he or she drinks.

If spontaneous urination does not occur within the next 3-4 hours, the patient should be re-catheterized with a disposable catheter. If, after a second time, the patient does not urinate spontaneously, a third catheterization is performed. The third time, a more permanent Foley catheter is used, which the patient must use for a week.

The patient must pinch the catheter and open it whenever he has a toilet emergency. However, this sensation may not occur, which is why the catheter should always be opened approximately every three hours to empty the bladder. The patient is discharged with a Foley catheter.

Medication

Doctors prescribe medications to prevent complications in urinary catheter patients. They are:

• Phosphomycin, 3 g. This medicine should be taken every 72 hours while using the catheter.

• NSAIDs to relieve local inflammation.

Summary

During childbirth, it is essential to give and maintain good pain medication and take the right precautions to prevent post-pregnancy urinary tract and other complications.

Postpartum urinary retention can be effectively treated with catheters. Ask your doctor about the risks of this postpartum complication and the treatment options available.