A urethral catheter is a flexible plastic or latex tube which is inserted into the bladder via the urethra to drain urine, or instill medications into the bladder. When selecting the type of catheter, do so considering the reason for insertion, and the intended duration required. Aim to use the smallest size which will allow free urinary drainage, size 12, 14 for females. Larger sizes may be required if there is debris or blood clots, which may block a smaller diameter catheter. Ensure you use the correct length of catheter; female catheters are 22-26cm long. This is shorter than standard male catheters, as the female urethra is shorter. When inserting a urethral catheter, it is important to maintain an aseptic technique, in order to reduce the risk of introducing infection into the urinary tract. In this film, due to the sensitive nature, this procedure will be performed on a catheterisation simulator model.<\/p>\r\n
Once you have watched this video, why not attempt the multiple choice quiz to test your knowledge?<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A urethral catheter is a flexible plastic or latex tube which is inserted into the bladder via the urethra to drain urine, or instill medications into the bladder. When selecting the type of catheter, do so considering the reason for insertion, and the intended duration required. Aim to use the smallest size which will allow […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tomorrows-clinicians","category-uncategorized","entry"],"youtubeVideo":"509836608\/089096a621","question1":"Regarding catheter size used in female catheterisation:","answers1":"Male and female catheters are the same size.\r\n| In most cases a catheter size of 6-12 is appropriate.\r\n| In most cases a catheter size of 12-14 is appropriate.\r\n| In most cases a catheter size of 14-20 is appropriate.","correctAnswer1":"2","correctAnswerText1":"","question2":"Regarding the standard length of catheter used in female catheterisation:","answers2":"A longer catheter is required in female catheterisation than in male catheterisation.\r\n| A catheter length of 22-26cm is appropriate in most cases.\r\n| A catheter length of 12-14cm is appropriate in most cases.\r\n| The female urethra is approximately 25cm long.","correctAnswer2":"1","correctAnswerText2":"Females have much shorter urethras than males \u2013 male patients need a catheter that is more than the length of the average male urethra (20cm) to ensure that urethral trauma will be avoided when the balloon is inflated. The female urethra is only 4-5cm in length so a much shorter catheter is required.","question3":"Patients should be questioned before the procedure to ascertain allergies and specifically allergies to the following combination of agents:","answers3":"Latex, chlorhexadine and lignocaine.\r\n| Silicon, saline and lignocaine.\r\n| Silicon, chlorhexadine and lignocaine.\r\n| Latex, silicon and chlorhexadine.","correctAnswerText3":"","correctAnswer3":"0","question4":"Skin preparation prior to catheterisation in the ward setting is usually with the following agent:","answers4":"Betadine\r\n| Chlorhexadine\r\n| Saline\r\n| Alcohol\r\n","correctAnswer4":"2","correctAnswerText4":"Females have much shorter urethras than males. Male patients require a catheter that is longer than the length of the average male urethra (20cm). This is to ensure that urethral trauma is avoided when inflating the balloon. The female urethra is only 4-5cm in length, so a much shorter catheter is required.","question5":"The lubricating material that should be used contains the following:","answers5":" Chlorhexidine gel\r\n| Lignocaine and chlorhexidine\r\n| Aquagel\r\n| Aquagel and chlorhexidine","correctAnswer5":"1","correctAnswerText5":"","question6":"The lubricating gel should be left to work insitu for approximately how long before the procedure continues?","answers6":" 20 minutes\r\n| 5 minutes\r\n| 1-2 minutes\r\n| Up to 1 minute","correctAnswer6":"1","correctAnswerText6":"This is to allow the local anaesthetic properties of the lignocaine component of the gel to become effective.","question7":"Regarding glove changing during the procedure of female catheterisation:","answers7":" One pair of sterile gloves is necessary for the procedure.\r\n| Sterile gloves should be changed to a second pair after the lignocaine has been instilled.\r\n| Sterile gloves should be changed to a second pair after inserting the catheter but before connecting the catheter to the drainage bag.\r\n| Sterile gloves are not necessary for the procedure of female catheterisation as it is a procedure that takes place in a contaminated body area.","correctAnswer7":"1","correctAnswerText7":"Gloves should be changed directly before handling the catheter near its tip which happens after the lignocaine gel has been instilled.","question8":"Whilst inserting the catheter:","answers8":"If urine is seen flowing from the catheter before the catheter has been fully inserted, it is safest to stop advancing and inflate the catheter balloon.\r\n| If urine is seen flowing from the catheter before the catheter has been fully inserted it is safest to continue to insert the catheter to the bifurcation then inflate the balloon.\r\n| It is normal to feel significant resistance when inserting a female catheter.\r\n| The urethral meatus will be found above the clitorus.","correctAnswer8":"1","correctAnswerText8":"The catheter should be fully inserted before inflating the balloon to avoid risk of damage to the urethra.","question9":"Regarding inflation of the catheter balloon:","answers9":"The balloon should be inflated slowly with 10mls of sterile water.\r\n| The balloon should be inflated quickly with 10ml of sterile water to get a good seal and prevent leakage of urine.\r\n| The balloon should be inflated as soon as urine is seen flowing from the catheter.\r\n| The balloon should be inflated irrespective of resistance to inflation if urine is seen to be flowing from the catheter.\r\n","correctAnswer9":"0","correctAnswerText9":"Insufflation should be slow as any resistance needs to be detected and the procedure stopped before trauma to the urethra or bladder neck occurs.","question10":"The following information regarding the catheter should be documented in the notes after the procedure:","answers10":"Type, size and lot number.\r\n| Length, manufacturing company and date of expiration.\r\n| Date of production and date of expiration.\r\n| Type, size and date of expiration.\r\n","correctAnswer10":"0","correctAnswerText10":"You should also document the date and time of insertion, volume\/substance used to insufflate the balloon, any difficulties encountered, the residual volume of urine into the catheter, the frequency of urine output monitoring and any instructions regarding removal.","question11":"Regarding the use of the catheter after insertion:","answers11":"A special port exists for urine samples to be collected from the catheter system.\r\n| All urinary catheters should be removed after 72hours and replaced to reduce the risk of urinary tract infection.\r\n| Catheters should be routinely clamped each day to ensure that the patient will be successful in a trial without catheter.\r\n| When collecting urine from the catheter for microscopy culture and sensitivity, the drainage port at the distal end of the collecting bag should be opened to allow collection of urine into a universal container.","correctAnswer11":"0","correctAnswerText11":"","question12":"Regarding the removal of a urinary catheter:","answers12":"It is important to check the instructions regarding removal of the urinary catheter as in some cases catheters need to be left in for extended periods of time or removed by specified individuals.\r\n| It is important to ensure that all catheter tips are sent to the microbiology department when the catheter is removed.\r\n| It is important to ensure that catheters are disposed of in non clinical waste bins unless they are clearly contaminated with blood or other debris.\r\n|It is not important to have training in catheter removal before undertaking this procedure.","correctAnswer12":"0","correctAnswerText12":"Also, regarding the catheter \u2013 document date and time of insertion, volume\/substance used to insufflate balloon, difficulties encountered, residual volume into catheter, frequency of urine output monitoring and instructions regarding removal of catheter.","question13":"","answers13":"","correctAnswer13":"","correctAnswerText13":"","question14":"","answers14":"","correctAnswer14":"","correctAnswerText14":"","question15":"","answers15":"","correctAnswer15":"","correctAnswerText15":"","icon":"female-urinery-catheterisation","parentId":"","recapId":"377","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":831,"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46\/revisions\/831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vapp.rguc.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}