Objective To explore the timing of indwelling urinary catheter removal in male patients undergoing orthopedic surgery under general anesthesia by a prospective randomized controlled study. Methods Male patients who underwent orthopedic surgery under general anesthesia in the First People’s Hospital of Shuangliu District between September 2019 and January 2021 were selected prospectively. The patients were randomly assigned to group A (pull out the catheter before anesthesia) and group B (pull out the catheter within 24 hours after anesthesia) at a ratio of 1∶1 by sortition. The age, operation duration, operation site, heart rate when pulling out the catheter, first urination, urinary tract infection, patient comfort score, nursing satisfaction score and patient satisfaction related indicators of the two groups were recorded and analyzed. Results A total of 120 patients were included in the study. All patients successfully completed the trial without dropping out or quitting. There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of age, operation duration and operation site (P>0.05). No urinary tract infection occurred in both groups. There was no significant difference in the first urination between the two groups (P>0.05). The heart rate of patients in group A when pulling out the catheter was slower than that of group B [(74.62 ± 11.38) vs. (84.52 ± 8.98) times/min], and the satisfaction of patients in group A (group A: 46 cases were satisfied, 11 cases were relatively satisfied, 3 cases were dissatisfied; group B: 17 cases were satisfied, 25 cases were relatively satisfied, 18 cases were dissatisfied), comfort score (17.82±2.73 vs. 16.68±2.13), and nursing satisfaction score (19.62±1.59 vs. 16.32±2.05) were better than those in group B (P<0.05). Conclusions For male patients who need catheterization before orthopedic surgery under general anesthesia, pulling out the catheter before waking up after anesthesia can effectively reduce the physiological stress reaction of patients, reduce discomfort, improve patient satisfaction, and reduce the workload of nurses after surgery, which is conducive to early rehabilitation exercise of patients.