WHAT ARE CATHETERS USED FOR?

The most common use of catheters is to drain urine from the bladder. Mostly, catheterization is done during a surgery to empty the bladder. Before the Foley catheters came into use, doctors reused catheters among patients. This caused infections spreading from patient to patient until the disposable catheters like Foley catheters came to the market.

Although catheters are used in surgery in most cases, there are cases where most patients rely on self-catheterization prescribed by the doctor due to medical conditions that require them to rely on the catheter to empty their bowels, drain the urine or due to some other medical condition. In self-catheterization, the patient is taught in how to catheterize him/herself because they may need to rely upon it even at home when a doctor is not around.

A catheter can cause infections especially when it is an indwelling catheter and used for a long duration of time despite the frequent changing. For the purpose of reducing chances of infection, the touchless catheters are prescribed to the patients. With the touchless catheters, infections are greatly reduced because the catheter is pre-sterilized and easy to insert.

Some patients do not require staying on catheterization for a longer period of time and therefore they require intermittent catheters to assist them to drain out urine from their bladder. Self-catheterization is applied here mostly because these people may not be in critical condition and may not have the doctor with them whenever they require catheterization. The intermittent catheters are also disposable catheters- they are not reused.

Catheters may cause severe irritations that may come with painful urination. This can be caused by infections that come with prolonged duration of catheterization. Catheterization can also be very painful during insertion and therefore the doctor may have to use local anesthesia on some patients in order to avoid inflicting pain on the patient. To minimize this condition, the doctor may put the patient on external catheters. This catheter directs urine to a drainage bag which collects the urine for disposal. A drainage bag should not be reused to prevent infections and bad odor.

Catheterization is only used if needed and when prescribed by the doctor. Unnecessary use of the catheter can pose a threat to your health.  Urinary catheters may cause bladder injuries, hematuria, Septicemia, bladder stones and many other urinary tract infections. External catheters reduce the chances of infection and are therefore best to use.

Further Reading

Hematuria

Septicemia

Uses and types of urinary catheter

Post Description

Catheters are used with a drainage bags for urine, the article is an informative guide about the usage, and precautions while using catheters.