Clot Retention: Our Experiences with a Simple New Technique of Evacuation with a Thoracic Catheter

Introduction: Clot retention in the urinary bladder is a very common health problem in surgical and nonsurgical cases and clot retention treatment is quite costly. Objectives: The aim of this retrospective study was to describe an alternative technique for removing tenacious and chronic clots by using a thoracic catheter technique. Materials and methods: Between January 2011 and June 2018, a total of 27 patients of clot retention were treated under local anesthesia with the thoracic catheter technique. Results: Twenty-seven patients with a mean age of 58 years (range 45-70) were included. The etiologies of bladder clots included surgical causes and nonsurgical causes. Of the surgical causes, the most common cause was post-transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). The nonsurgical causes were upper tract bleeding, drug-induced bleeding, post-traumatic bleeding, and haematochyluria. It was found that the thoracic catheter technique was simple and easily adoptable, with no training required. Conclusions: Clot retention in the urinary bladder is a very common problem in surgical and nonsurgical cases. Our technique is a simple, safe, fast, and effective option of clot removal from the urinary bladder and it doesn’t require any added cost.