Pharmacological interventions for reducing catheter-related bladder discomfort in patients undergoing elective surgeries under general anaesthesia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Catheter-related bladder discomfort (CRBD) is identified as a major concern after surgery as it can lead to increased morbidity and prolonged hospital stay. A suitable agent to prevent and treat postoperative CRBD is not yet established, and the literature is scarce in this regard. So, we aimed to find the efficacy of various drugs in preventing CRBD after elective surgery. METHODS: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed for the study, and electronic databases like PubMed Central, Cochrane database and Embase were searched. The methodological quality of selected studies was assessed by the Cochrane Collaboration risk of bias tool. Review Manager 5.4.1 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The meta-analysis revealed that antimuscarinic agents were able to lower the incidence of CRBD significantly at 0 hour, 1 hour, 2 hours and 6 hours (P < 0.01) after the surgery. Tramadol was effective at 1 hour, 2 hours and 6 hours postoperatively (P < 0.01), whereas ketamine was effective at 2 and 6 hours (P < 0.01) postoperatively. Antiepileptic drugs (pregabalin and gabapentin) were able to lower the incidence of CRBD at 0 hour (P < 0.01), 1 hour (P < 0.05), 2 hours (P < 0.05) and 6 hours (P < 0.01) postoperatively while dexmedetomidine at 0 hour (P < 0.01) and 2 hours (P < 0.01) after the surgery. Injections paracetamol, amikacin and diphenhydramine were also shown to reduce the incidence of CRBD in separate randomised controlled trials. CONCLUSION: The current meta-analysis showed that antimuscarinic agents, tramadol, pregabalin, gabapentin, paracetamol and dexmedetomidine are effective in significantly reducing the incidence of postoperative CRBD.