Is a spinal block is always accompanied by catheterisation. Why?

Question

Why is catheterisation required if the patient is going to be in post op for only a couple of hours. Surely, he won't need to urinate that much during that time?

This is about a surgery on lower leg fracture (broken tibia and fibula).........and I'm asking about the medical procedure and tis veracity, I'm not going through that operation.

Answer 1

I've never had a block, thank God, but my guess is that you lose bladder control, since you're more than just numb, you're actually paralyzed, if only temporarily. Poor Timmy! I was in the hospital once when a 12 year old came in with a broken femur and needed a spinal block so they could set it, pin it, and wrap him in a full body cast. You could hear him scream all the way down the hall. I thought it was just from the block, I never thought about him needing a cath, too. I saw him a couple months later and he was doing fine, so I guess it was all worth while.

Answer 2

With a spinal block a man will lose control over his urinary functions, and a person can produce quite a lot of urine in a couple of hours, especially if they are under stress or on an IV. Nobody wants to have urine dripping all over the place, making the bedding and the skin clammy and smelly and maybe getting into the surgical wound.

Answer 3

Probably because they will have an IV drip in which does actually make you urinate more because the fluids going straight into the system raher than going throught the digestion process, and because a spinal block stops the bladder from being able to hold the urine in. So it's alot nicer to have the bladder drain freely into a bag rather than onto the bed.

Answer 4

You don't say what procedure the person is having, so no way to tell. The patient should ask the doctor if they have questions.