Urinary Catheter

A urinary catheter is a latex or silicone tube (35 to 40 cm) placed in the urethra. This catheter allows for urine contained in the bladder to flow out and be collected in a bag.

A catheter is placed:

When the patient can not urinate spontaneously, i.e. after an anesthesia.
When the patient has a urethral inflammation, i.e. after external radiotherapy.
After an operation, if time is needed to wait for the tissue to heal before they can regain normal function.

How is a urinary catheter placed ?

The catheter is lubricated and plugged into the collecting bag. Then it is progressively introduced in the urethra. Once the extremity reaches the bladder, a balloon is inflated with saline, in order to keep it in place.

What should be done before placing the urinary catheter?

     To limit the risk of infection, careful cleaning of the penis should be done. This is usually done by the nurse. After that an antiseptic is spread along and around the penis. Lubricant containing anesthesia is placed on the urethra. It is advised to drink a lot of water to prevent the catheter from blocking or an infection form happening.

     After a prostatectomy some patients have bladder muscle contraction, leading to a painful will to urinate, but the urine are evacuated by the catheter. This feeling is due to the bladder contraction that tries to remove the foreign body (the catheter) A medical treatment makes those contractions disappear, or at least decrease. The catheter should not be unplugged from the collecting bag. When the catheter is not needed anymore, the nurse deflates the balloon and the catheter will slide spontaneously out of the bladder.

     When it is removed, a discomfort can be felt in the penis, and is usually accompanied by difficulty in urination. This discomfort disappears rapidly. When it is necessary to keep the catheter for a longer time, the patient can go home with it, and come back for a hospital stay of around 24 to 48 hours, in order to remove it and evaluate his urination ability as well as the presence of possible urinary leaks. The catheter can also be removed at hoe, by a nurse.

Language