Risk factors for urinary retention after hip or knee replacement: a cohort study Facteurs de risque de retention urinaire apres une arthroplastie de la hanche ou du genou: une etude de cohorte

Introduction In 2006, our provincial government initiated a program to reduce wait times for total hip or knee replacements by referring patients to a single tertiary-care centre. This program provided an opportunity to identify risk factors for perioperative complications as part of a continuing quality improvement project. We report the risk of postoperative urinary retention after hip and knee replacements and the risk factors associated with this complication. Methods After local Research Ethics Board approval, data were abstracted from charts of patients who underwent elective primary unilateral total hip or knee replacement surgery. The outcome was urinary retention in the first 24 hr after surgery. Risk factors were identified using multivariable logistic regression, and they were expressed as odds ratios (OR) or 95% confidence intervals (CI).