The use of a temporaryor permanent catheter is very common in clinical practice. Between 15.0% and 25.0% of hospitalized patients have in-dwelling bladder catheters, the majority of which are short-term. Bladder catheter clamping before catheter removal was generally regarded as useful in the past. Today, its utility is questionable.To determine the association between bladder catheter clamping and spontaneous micturition or acute urinary retention (AUR) in postoperative patients with short-term indwelling bladder catheter.A descriptive, comparative,longitudinal study was conducted at a secondary care hospital center in a western Mexican state .AUR was the outcome variable. Two study groups wereformed: patients with bladder catheter clamping (n=43) and the control patients with no bladder catheter clamping (n=41). Descriptive statistical analyses were performed, and percentage comparisons were made with the chi-squaretest. Significant predictors were subsequently added to the multivariate model.Fourteen percent (n=12) of all the study patients, with and without bladder catheter clamping, presented with AUR and 86% (n=72) did not. In the association analysis, there was no statistically significant difference between presenting with AUR and having or not having bladder catheter clamping (p=0.59). The associations of AUR with bladder re-catheterization (p=0.001), age (p=0.01), and the presence of lower urinary symptoms (p= 0.005) were statistically significant.Postoperative bladder catheter clamping was not associated with the presence of AUR.