The aim of this study was to figure out the predictors of early postoperative catheter-related bladder discomfort (CRBD) after urological surgery. We designed a prospective observational study in our hospital. Consecutive adult patients undergoing surgery under general anaesthesia or epidural anaesthesia necessitating urinary catheterization were included during a 3-month period. severity of bladder discomfort was assessed on a 4-point scale: (1) no pain, (2) mild pain (revealed only by interviewing the patient), (3) moderate (a spontaneous complaint by the patient of a burning sensation in the urethra and/or an urge to urinate and/or sensation of urethral foreign body without any emotional agitation) and (4) severe discomfort (agitation, loud complaints and attempt to remove the bladder catheter associated with a burning sensation in the urethra). Predictors of CRBD were identified by univariate and multivariate analysis. Totally, 116 patients were included, of which 84.5% had CRBD (mild CRBD: 40.5%; moderate or severe CRBD: 44.0%) at day 1, while 31.9% developed CRBD (mild CRBD: 29.3%; moderate or severe CRBD: 2.6%) at day 3. We evaluated 9 potential forecast factors of CRBD, and univariate Chi-square test showed male gender [OR=2.4, 95%CI (1.1-5.6), P < 0.05], abdominal open surgery compared with transurethral surgery [OR=0.3, 95%CI (0.1-0.6), P < 0.05], abdominal surgery compared with laparoscopic surgery [OR=3.3, 95%CI (1.2-8.9), P < 0.05] and history of catheterization [OR=0.5, 95%CI (0.2-0.9), P < 0.05] were independent predictors of moderate or severe CRBD in the patients after surgery. While multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the abdominal open surgery [EXP(B)=3.074, 95%CI (1.3-7.4), P < 0.05] and the history of catheterization [EXP(B)=2.458, 95%CI (1.1-5.9), P < 0.05] might contribute more to the occurrence of moderate or severe CRBD. In conclusion, this observational study identified that the type of surgery and the history of catheterization might be predictive factors of moderate and severe CRBD after urological surgery.