Care for catheters:

The urinary catheter is a tube made of silicon which transports the urine from the body weather from the kidney, the bladder or the ureter to the urine bag. This means it is a tube which connects the inside of the body with outside. That is why it may be a route for transport of infection to the inside of the body (ascending infection). It is then important to care for it and of the urine bag which may be a place for growth of bacteria. You should use sterile gloves and isolate the rest of the body from the exit of the catheter using sterile blankets while caring for it. It is advised to have the help of another person to hand over the utensils for you from the unclean to the clean area.

General notes:

• Please be sure that the catheter is not bent and that it gives free passage for urine.
• Be sure that the urine is clear and is not frothy.
• Keep in mind that the urine bag is fixed hanging on the bed edge and it contains clear urine.

Specific notes

• Please change the dressing around the catheter daily.
• After removal of the dressing, pull the catheter carefully for 1-2 cm to the outside and clean it with gauze soaked in a disinfectant to insure its cleanliness and that no secretions are attached to it.
• Spray a disinfectant solution around the wound and apply a disinfectant ointment (keep in mind that the patient has no allergy against iodine) or apply an antibiotic ointment.
• Re apply surgical dressing.
• Clean the rest of the catheter in the same way.
• Disconnect the catheter from the urine collecting bag and spray its end using a disinfectant spray particularly on changing the urine bag.
• This method is to be applied for all catheters which come out of the body.
• Catheters, particularly suprapubic one, must be changed every 6 weeks.
• Inform the doctor if the urine is turbid to acidify it.

Care for the bladder (urethral) catheter:

This is the catheter that drains the bladder. It is the most common one in urology.

1. Pull the catheter very carefully to the outside 1-2 cm while pushing the penis and the foreskin to the opposite direction to expose the part of the catheter.
2. Wipe this exposed part with gauze soaked in a disinfectant solution suitable for the mucous membrane lining the urethra and does not contain alcohol.
3. Apply a disinfectant ointment (keep in mind that the patient has no allergy against iodine) or apply an antibiotic ointment.
4. Leave the penis to glide again over that catheter so that the ointment disappears inside the urethra.
5. Clean the skin of the penis and disinfect it with disinfecting solution.
6. Tie sterile gauze on the catheter directly in front of the meatus.
7. Keep the catheter above the leg of the patient and not beneath it.
8. Care for the rest of the catheter as indicated above.