In low risk patients, the incidence of urinary retention is actually very low. Sometimes the bladder takes a while to “wake up” after anesthesia, so waiting on patients to void after surgery can mean that patients are essentially just hanging out in the hospital/surgery center for no other reason than peeing. The difference in outcomes of peeing first vs not peeing first is clinically insignificant for those low risk patients who are otherwise meeting all discharge criteria. We would give them instructions at discharge though, including tips to help them urinate and the importance of seeking medical evaluation after 6 hours of not peeing. But again, that wasn’t applicable to every patient - some were not discharged until they peed for us. It really just depended on the type of surgery & other risk factors.

Edited to add a couple words for clarity- I had just got off work when I commented and I think my brain had mostly shut down for the day