Urinary catheter home care

Urinary catheters

A urinary catheter is a tube placed in the body to drain and collect urine from the bladder.  Your health care provider may recommend that you use a catheter if you have:

• Urinary incontinence (leaking urine or being unable to control when you urinate)
• Urinary retention (being unable to empty your bladder when you need to)
• Surgery on the prostate or genitals
• Other medical conditions such as multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, or dementia

Catheters come in many sizes, materials (latex, silicone, Teflon), and types (Foley, straight, coude tip). A Foley catheter, for example, is a soft, plastic or rubber tube that is inserted into the bladder to drain the urine.  In most cases, your provider will use the smallest catheter that is appropriate.

How to take care of Urinary Catheter at Home

Indwelling urethral catheters

An indwelling urinary catheter is one that is left in the bladder. You may use an indwelling catheter for a short time or a long time.

An indwelling catheter collects urine by attaching to a drainage bag. The bag has a valve that can be opened to allow urine to flow out. Some of these bags can be secured to your leg. This allows you to wear the bag under your clothes. An indwelling catheter may be inserted into the bladder in 2 ways:

Most often, the catheter is inserted through the urethra. This is the tube that carries urine from the bladder to the outside of the body.

Sometimes, the catheter is inserted into your bladder through a small hole in your belly.   An indwelling catheter has a small balloon inflated on the end of it. This prevents the catheter from sliding out of your body. When the catheter needs to be removed, the balloon is deflated.  Sometimes urine can leak around the catheter. This may be caused by:

• Catheter that is blocked or that has a kink in it
• Catheter that is too small
• Bladder spasms
• Constipation
• The wrong balloon size
• Urinary tract infections

Call the hospital if you have:

• Bladder spasms that do not go away
• Bleeding into or around the catheter
• Fever or chills
• Large amounts of urine leaking around the catheter
• Skin sores around a suprapubic catheter
• Stones or sediment in the urinary catheter or drainage bag
• Swelling of the urethra around the catheter
• Urine with a strong smell, or that is thick or cloudy
• Very little or no urine draining from the catheter and you are drinking enough fluids

If the catheter becomes clogged, painful, or infected, it will need to be replaced right away.