Background: There currently is no standard practice for optimal urinary catheter removal after rectal resection (proctectomy). Delayed removal may increase urinary tract infection risk, an important hospital quality metric. This study aimed to assess the effect of catheter duration on urinary tract infection rate. We hypothesized that early removal would be associated with fewer infections. Methods: We performed a retrospective review of patients who underwent proctectomy from January 2007 to December 2017 with urinary catheter placement in our colorectal surgery department. The main outcome measures were urinary tract infection, post-operative urinary retention, and length of stay. Patients were divided into early (post-operative day one or two) and late (day three or later) removal groups. Results: A series of 2,429 patients were included; 1,176 in the early and 1,253 in the late group. The early group had a shorter median length of stay (5.26 versus 7 days). The urinary tract infection (n = 77) multivariable logistic regression model showed no association between timing of removal and infection; however, females had more infections (odds ratio [OR] 2.70, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.65-4.41). The post-operative urinary retention model (n = 280) showed no association between the timing of removal and retention; however, patients who underwent pre-operative radiation (OR 1.55; 95% CI 1.15-2.09) or total proctocolectomy (OR 1.74; 95% CI 1.21-2.49) or were male (OR 1.35; 95% CI 1.02-1.78) were more likely to have retention. When analyzed by specific removal day, each one-day delay in removal increased the odds of infection by 21% (OR 1.21; 95% CI 1.09-1.35] and decreased the odds of retention by 12% (OR 0.88; 95% CI 0.80-0.97] with a cross-over at 9 days. Patients who experienced retention were not more likely to have infection. Conclusion: Early urinary catheter removal after proctectomy was associated with a lower urinary tract infection rate and a shorter hospital stay.

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