History of Catheter's
Posted , 6 users are following.
Hello All.
I thought being we use catheters in our life as we get older. It may be good to know were they started.
Catheter's have been traced back to 3000 BC. You find them talked about in Egyptian and Greek text. During this time they use any hollow tube they could to relieve retention. They use straws, bamboo, rolled up palm leaves.Also gold, silver and other metals. In the 11th century silver was used as a basis of catheter being made.
Can you imagine the pain these men had to go through to get relief? And we complain.
Benjamin Franklin invented a catheter for his brother because he had kidney stones. He went to his local silversmith and had him make silver catheters for him because they were flexible an his brother John had to do this daily to get relief.
Also you have to remember it is not like today with all our machines. They did not know about a enlarged prostate until they did a autopsy. I will have to look and see how they know he had kidney stones.
In the 18th & 19th century coude tip catheters were invented. Catheters made of rubber were made in the 18th century. But they were weak because of the body temperature leaving debris in the bladder.
The advent of rubber vulcanization by Goodyear in 1844 improved the firmness and durability of the new catheters. Latex rubber because available in the 1930's. Doctor Fred Foley introduce the latex balloon catheter in 1935 at a urologic meeting. He lost the patent in the same year but the name of the catheter never change. It is still called a * * Foley * *
Catheterization of the bladder was felt to be a safe procedure because of the antiseptic principles of Doctor Lister in 1867. But many doctors continued to be concerned about catheter infection at this time thy called it ** Catheter Fever **( Systemic infection )
After World Was 2 a Sir Ludwig Guttman introduced the sterile intermittent catheterization for patients with spinal cord injury. We are getting better.
In 1971 Doctor Lapides in Michigan introduced the clean intermittent catheter. He's theory was that bacteria was not the only cause of a infection. He believe that the left over urine residuals and the over stretching of the bladder was also responsible. Lapides was scorned in the urology world.
Three decades after this debate the clean intermittent catheterization remains the preferred method to treat chronic urine retention and neurogenic bladder.
In closing we have come a long way from putting a straw or bamboo in our body. Thank god.
Catheters come in many sizes. The doctor will put in the size he feel is right for your procedure . The urethra will accommodate what ever size the doctor put in.A 14 fr to 16 fr is normal for a adult. And if you have blood clots they will use a 22 fr.If you are doing CIC the doctor can tell you what size to try but it is up to you to figure out what works for you. You want it to be has easy and painless has possible.
I hope you found this interesting I thought it was how times have changed for the same problem we face today. Let's hope next year is a good year for all of us. We deserve it.
God bless and Happy New Year to all of you............Ken
1 like, 6 replies
hank1953 kenneth1955
Posted
Thanks for sharing Ken. I didn't know catheters have been around for so long. I thought they were invented by jimjames. 😀
kenneth1955 hank1953
Posted
Hank
Yes that would make since. Still have not heard from him I keep trying no reply.
Have a good new year....Ken
dennis47445 kenneth1955
Posted
Ken, thank you for posting. It was very interesting!
Dennis
kenneth1955 dennis47445
Posted
Dennis
Thank you.
I do find stuff like this interesting. And it is always good to know. I still feel sorry for the men of yester years. They went through a lot.
Have a good holiday..........Ken
miriam65408 kenneth1955
Posted
Hi Ken,
Thanks for this potted history of the catheter - and typical of the medical 'know-alls that Lapides was scorned. Intermittent catheters are great for bladder health but those who have to have a permanent catheter fitted - even for a short time - need to know a bit more.
If anyone is finding they get repeated infections with a permanent catheter it's probably nothing to do with the way the it's handled or changed but more to do with the way the catheter tip actually damages the bladder lining. If you think of how the tip is held in place by the 10ml retention balloon, when the bladder is empty its walls can easily come into contact with the catheter tip which can then start to irritate the lining - which then gives bugs ample opportunity to establish a colony. If you keep your catheter free draining (i.e. your bladder never fills up) this contact will always be happening plus the bladder will develop 'marshy' areas where (bug-breeding) sediment doesn't shift much and the steady urine flow will stick to one or two channels (see Ken's comment about Lapides above - not much has changed!). If you are physically capable of managing the emptying of your bladder into the leg bag via a flip-flo valve then make sure you do so for the sake of your bladder health.
One company in America have designed a permanent catheter that has TWO balloons - the normal one for retention and a smaller one at the tip which actually protects the bladder lining. The drainage holes lie between the two balloons. This product has proved to be very successful but, as you can imagine, it's a multi-million dollar industry and the company meet with plenty of resistance in the US so have not yet sought an EU licence. I contacted them some years ago when my husband's life was literally in danger after repeated catheter-caused UTIs. I managed to purchase some of these catheters (obviously not available in the UK) and it has made a huge difference to his quality of life with no UTI since he's been using them. I had to train to change them myself as the nurses can't touch an unlicenced product but this has another benefit in that we no longer dread the emergency call-outs for someone to deal with a blockage! Anyone with a permanent catheter will surely know what I mean!
I can't name the company or product here but am willing to be messaged if anyone wants to know more about it.
kenneth1955 miriam65408
Posted
Good Evening
I thank you for reading the information about the history of catheters. It was very interesting to see what men had to go through years ago. We have come a long way.
I'm glad that the double balloon has helped your husband. If anyone is interested in them all they have to do is go on the internet and look up Double Balloon Catheters. They are a little more money but if they stop you from getting UTI. It's worth it.
Have a good day...........Ken