Foley catheter

Foley Catheters (Double or Triple)

One of the most common urinary catheters is the Foley Catheter. A Foley Catheter is a thin tube that passes through your urethra and bladder. The end of the catheter has a water-filled balloon so it can be placed in your bladder. At the other end, outside your body, is a drainage bag to collect urine. The nurse will insert the Foley catheter through your urethra. There are two things to keep in mind when inserting the catheter:

For men using a Foley catheter: Start at the tip of the penis, where the catheter goes in, and clean all the way to the anus. This will help prevent germs from spreading into your urethra.

For women using a Foley catheter: Start where the catheter goes in, making sure to separate the labia, and work your way back toward the anus.
These catheters are bag-like and are inserted into the bladder from their end. When the doctor wants to use the catheter for a long time, he uses this model, because these catheters do not slip and do not come out of the bladder due to the presence of a balloon at the beginning of their duct. For this reason, these catheters are also called indwelling catheters.

At the end of Foley catheters, a balloon is placed, which contains sterile water, and prevents this type of catheter from coming out of the bladder. In patients who, according to the doctor’s diagnosis, need to keep the Foley catheter in place for a while, the following points are recommended:

Drink plenty of fluids to prevent infection. (If you do not have a fluid restriction from your doctor)
To prevent contamination, avoid separating the urine tube from the urine bag.
If your catheter comes out or leaks urine, do not do anything yourself and be sure to visit a medical center to replace it.
To reduce the risk of infection, empty the urine bag every 8 hours.
If urine does not flow into the bag within 6 to 8 hours and you are sure that your catheter is not twisted or bent, visit a medical center.
To prevent urine reflux and the possibility of infection, keep the urine bag below the level of your bladder. Never place the urine bag on your stomach.
Avoid pulling or removing the urine drainage tube, as this can cause bleeding or injury to the duct. Leave this task to trained personnel.
This type of catheter, which is considered a permanent catheter, is permanently inserted into the person’s bladder and is suitable for short-term and long-term use. A nurse usually inserts the catheter into the urethra, but sometimes it can be inserted through a small hole in the lower abdomen, at the beginning of the urethra. This type of catheter is known as an indwelling catheter. A hydrophilic coating is placed on top of the Foley catheter to reduce friction between the catheter surface and the urethra during insertion for patient comfort.

Foley Catheter Sizing

The most common use of catheters is in urology, internal medicine, surgery, gynecology, gynecology, and pediatrics, for urine drainage, sampling, and more. Regarding catheter sizes, they are described in French units (circumference in millimeters). Thus, in patients with urethral strictures or a history of strictures or scarring, smaller catheters (12-14 French) are used, and in patients with enlarged prostates, larger catheters (20-26 French) are used to prevent kinking of the catheter as it passes through the prostatic urethra. 14-16 French catheters are often appropriate for adult women. For most men, a 16- or 18-French catheter is appropriate. This sizing is as follows:

Orange – Size 6 –‎‎- Size 2.0 mm

Red – Size 8 –‎‎- Size 2.7 mm

Yellow – Size 10 –‎‎- Size 2.7 mm

White – Size 12 –‎‎- Size 2.7 mm

Green – Size 14 –‎‎- Size 2.7 mm

Orange – Size 16 –‎‎- Size 2.7 mm

Red – Size 18 –‎‎- Size 2.7 mm

Yellow – Size 20 –‎‎- Size 2.7 mm

Purple – Size 22 –‎‎- Size 2.7 mm

Blue – Size 24 –‎‎- Size 2.7 mm

Black – Size 26 –‎‎- Size 2.7 mm

Do you know how to remove catheters at home?

If you are planning to remove a catheter from your body, you should know that removing the catheter will be much easier than inserting it. If Foley catheters are used, to remove it, you must first empty the water inside the balloon inside the bladder and then slowly remove the catheter tube from your body. Before removing the catheter tube, it is better to rotate the tube 360 ​​degrees left and right several times to remove the slight adhesion that has developed with the urinary tract during its use, and then pull the catheter out.

In what cases is a Foley catheter used?

Foley catheters are used for many disorders, procedures, or problems, such as:

Urinary retention resulting in urinary hesitation, straining to urinate, decreased size and force of urine stream, interrupted urine flow, and a feeling of incomplete emptying

Blockage of the urethra by an anatomical condition that makes urination difficult: prostatic hypertrophy, prostate cancer, or urethral stricture

Monitoring urine output in a sick or injured person

Collecting a sterile urine sample for diagnostic purposes

Bladder dysfunction, such as after spinal cord trauma (a catheter can be used regularly to assist urination).