Urinary Catheterization Purpose, Indications and Complications

Urethral Catheterization: Purpose, Indications, and Complications

Definition of Catheter:

In medicine, a catheter is a thin tube made from medical-grade materials serving a broad range of functions. Catheters are medical devices that can be inserted into the body to treat diseases or perform a surgical procedure. A unitary catheter is a flexible tube used to empty the bladder and collect urine in a drainage bag.

Definition of Urethral Catheterization:

Catheterization is the introduction of a catheter (a hollow, flexible tube) into a body cavity or organ to inject or remove a fluid. Catheterization is the process of putting a tube into the body to allow fluids to pass or to make a passage wider.

Purpose of Urethral Catheterization:

Key purposes of urethral catheterization are listed in the following:

• To empty the bladder when the patient cannot pass urine or to provide continuous drainage.
• To get a sterile sample of urine directly from the bladder for testing when the urethra is affected by an infectious disease.
• After a certain operation on the bladder, urethra, or prostate.
• During paralysis of the bladder, it is a lower motor neuron type of paralysis.
• To differentiate the diagnosis between suppression of nine and retention of urine.

Indications for Urethral Catheterization:

All the indications of urinary catheterization are mentioned below:

1. To relieve acute and chronic urinary retention.
2. To collect a sample of a sterile urine specimen.
3. To relieve discomfort caused by bladder distension.
4. To assess the amount of residual urine in case of incomplete emptying.
5. To manage patients with spinal cord injuries.
6. In case of prostatic enlargement, to prevent outflow.
7. Preoperative use for selected surgical procedures.
8. Patients undergoing urological surgery or other surgery on contiguous structures of the genitourinary tract.
9. Emptying the bladder before, during, or after surgery and before certain diagnostic examinations.
10. Need for intra-operative monitoring of urinary output.
11. Anticipated prolonged duration of surgery.
12. To prevent urethral irrigations.
13. To give bladder irrigations.
14. Management of intractable incontinence.
15. In case of terminal illness.
16. Need for accurate measurements of urinary output in critically ill patients.
17. To manage incontinency in unconscious patients.
18. To improve comfort for end-of-life care if needed.
19. To assist in the healing of open sacral or perineal wounds in incontinent patients.
20. Patient requires prolonged immobilization (e.g., potentially unstable thoracic or lumbar spine, multiple traumatic injuries such as pelvic fractures).

Urinary Catheterization Contraindications:

It Includes-

• Acute prostatitis.
• Suspicion of urethral trauma.

Complications of Urinary Catheterization:

It Includes-

• Injury to the urethra,
• Haemorrhage,
• Infection,
• Stone formation,
• Blockage of the catheter,
• Stricture urethra.

More questions related to this article:

1. Define catheter.
2. What is a catheter?
3. Define catheterization?
4. What do you mean by catheterization?
5. What are the purposes of urethral catheterization?
6. What are the indications of urinary catheterization?
7. What are the contraindications of urinary catheterization?
8. What are the complications of catheterization?
9. Mention the complications of catheterization.