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Intermittent Catheter Not Fully Draining Bladder

Posted , 3 users are following.

joe05771
joe05771

ive been using RUSCH intermittent catheters since august. at first everything seemed fine.bladder would drain normal with catheter. id insert catheter and drain. as bladder emptied, the urine stream would start strong and then get weaker until no more urine came out.

but last couple of months, id insert catheter and start draining. as it drained, the stream would abruptly stop and no more urine would come out. and i feel like there was definitely more urine in my bladder. id try and reinsert catheter but nothing would come out again. so id leave it as is. and come back later to drain again.

there are no kinks in tubing and the holes were not obstructed as far as can tell. this would normally not be a big problem as id be able to come back later and drain again. problem is, these catheters cost about five bucks apiece and im going through a lot of them pretty fast.

anyone know what is happening and what can be done to correct this?

0 likes, 2 replies

2 Replies

  • leonard08537
    leonard08537 joe05771

    Posted

    Hi Joe

    I've been using intermittent catheters (Coloplast Speedicath) for many years and have not had this problem. I do find that sometimes the flow stops before my bladder is fully empty, but just withdrawing the catheter a short distance allows it to flow again. My understanding is that when the catheter is fully in, it can poke up above the liquid level in my bladder, so I have to lower it slightly to allow the last dregs to drain properly.

    Incidentally, I also was concerned at the cost of catheters, even though I don't have to pay for them, and having had to reuse one when I was caught away from home without a spare I found that this caused no problem. So I have been reusing them regularly, each one several times over a day or two. I take care not to touch the tubes and store them immediately in the original package, which contains some sterile saline solution. I know that the manufacturers warn against reuse, but I feel that this may be overcautious.

    Good luck!

  • Dark_Horse
    Dark_Horse joe05771

    Posted

    I guess it could be one of two possibilities.

    1. When you retain urine, your bladder expands and stretches. When your bladder empties, then kinks and pouches can form inside it which can trap urine.
    2. Second possibility is it might feel like your bladder is full when it is in fact empty because the nerves are sending the wrong signal.

    A few thing to think about:

    • Urine retention is thought to be caused by compressed or damaged nerves in the lower back. Sacral Nerve Stimulation (SNS) might be a better option than self catheterisation - but that costs £25K and maybe needs to be done early, when the urine retention problem starts
    • Be careful how much you drink between catheterisations, you might rupture yourself because you may not be aware your bladder is full
    • The thing I most fear is handling raw chicken, then using a catheter or having a leak. Point is the catheter causes injuries near the mouth of the bladder where you don't want E Coli.

    Pleased I love in the UK, not the USA. We get free catheters but don't get free SNS.

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