The Effect of Hot-Cold Application to the Bladder After Orthopedic Surgery on Postoperative Urinary Retention

Orthopedic surgery is a surgical treatment method based on the correction of the functions of bones, November muscles, tendons, and ligaments in the body. Arthroplasty (hip, knee, shoulder), arthroscopy (meniscopathy, rotator cuff rupture), limb fractures, structural (hallux vagus, hallux rigidities, carpal tunnel syndrome, trigger finger), and developmental (hip dysplasia) dysfunctions are the interventions in which the orthopedic surgical procedure is performed. In orthopedic surgeries, the need for surgical treatment increases every day as a result of degeneration in the musculoskeletal system with a decrease in mobilization due to advancing age, November illness, trauma, or technological developments. In the United States, 30% of major surgical interventions involve orthopedic surgeries performed on elderly individuals); in Turkey, it is reported that 33.5% of orthopedic surgeries are performed due to trauma, and about 48% are performed on the lower extremities. Orthopedic surgeries are practices that risk serious complications, as with any treatment option. Complications such as nausea, vomiting, headache, hypotension, and postoperative urinary retention (PUR), especially due to spinal anesthesia, may be observed in patients receiving treatment due to orthopedic surgery. While the prevalence of PUR in orthopedic surgeries is 6-40% in the literature, it is stated that this rate is higher (6-60%) after spinal anesthesia. Due to PUR after orthopedic surgery, there is an increase in hospital stay times, susceptibility to infection, deterioration in the quality of life, and associated cost increases.

Postoperative urinary retention is a complication that manifests symptoms with problems such as suprapubic pain, bladder spasm, and/or inability to urinate after surgical treatment. The etiology of PUR includes factors caused by the patient (advanced age, male gender, anatomical problems, comorbidity, neural transmission disorders), due to the surgical process (failure to empty the bladder during the preoperative period, surgery lasts longer than 2 hours, emergency surgery, opioid-NSAID-atropine use, amount of fluid taken) and due to anesthesia (epidural/spinal anesthesia). 2-6 of the postoperative period. it gives symptoms as a result of the absence of the first urine decrement between hours. As a result, serious problems such as increased urinary pressure and acute kidney injury and/or dysfunction due to bladder distension occur in patients. Management of PUR can be achieved by using physical examination (globe monitoring), bladder catheterization, and ultrasonographic (USG) methods to diagnose these problems at an early stage.

Field health professionals, who have an important place in the conduct of health services, offer the greatest contribution to the surgical treatment process with their understanding of quality health care. In particular, nurses who are actively involved in the perioperative process are the professional staff with the greatest responsibility for positively managing health care. Nurses help to ensure the patient's comfort as soon as possible by providing multidisciplinary cooperation in the management of complications that develop during this process. For this purpose, nurses need to carry out the necessary practices and precautions against the risk of developing PUR, which is one of the postoperative complications. In the recently published Nursing Regulation, the nurses' authority to manage PUR is clearly stated as "interventions to be implemented by a nursing decision" as "A nurse can decide independently or jointly with a physician to insert and remove a urinary catheter if she cannot eliminate urinary retention with the interventions she can apply", "Hot-cold application" intervention definition is clearly stated. Therefore, nurses evaluate the patient by reviewing the existing risk factors of the patient and surgical process during the perioperative period, providing emotional support for surgical stress, questioning perioperative fluid intake, informing the patient about the consumption of caffeine-containing drinks and plenty of water, monitor urine postoperatively, prefer non-invasive methods (listening to water sound, relaxation, bladder massage, mobilization, hot-cold application, ko mot/duck/sliders) primarily in case of PURE development, and invasive methods as a last resort (urinary catheterization, ensuring the necessary cooperation with the physician for interventional applications is one of the important responsibilities in process management. In the literature, it is stated that hot-cold application with bladder catheterization, one of the invasive methods, and hot-water insertion of the hand, massage, mobilization, promotion of liquid and coffee consumption, pelvic muscle exercise, and acupuncture are used in the management of PUR. In the studies conducted, the first postoperative urine output time was reduced by sacral massage in the management of PUR nurses; there was a rapid and permanent decrease in the development of PUR accompanied by the urination algorithm from 21% to 3% observed. However, 59.5% of patients with a hot compress applied to the bladder and 71.4% with cold application had urinary retention regressed; a significant difference in the severity of urinary retention was revealed by hot application; it is reported that urinary catheterization after the hot application is applied to only 3.9% of the patients. Based on these results, it is seen that the practices used by nurses to prevent and manage PUR have resulted in positive outcomes; the hot and cold practice has also made significant contributions to PUR management. For this purpose, it is envisaged that our study will contribute to the effective management of hot-cold application of PUR to the bladder in orthopedic surgery patients, to the minimum preference of invasive applications, to increasing the awareness of nurses about PUR management, and to the literature.