Why would you use a Foley Catheter? types and uses?

 

What is a Foley Catheter?

A tiny, sterile tube called a Foley balloon catheter is used to drain urine from the bladder. It is also known as an indwelling catheter since it can be retained in the bladder for an extended amount of time. A balloon at the end, which is filled with sterile water to keep the catheter from being pulled out of the bladder, holds it in place. Through the catheter tubes, the urine drains into a bag that is eventually emptied. Catheterization is the process of inserting a catheter. 

A sterile urinary catheter that remains in place for a long time is called a Foley catheter. A balloon at the catheter's tip can be inflated inside the bladder to hold the Foley in place. The bladder then releases urine through the catheter and into a collection bag. Another name for it is an indwelling catheter. 

When a patient is too ill, under anesthetic, or unable to urinate on their own due to a medical condition, this type of catheter is used. 

 

When is a Foley catheter used?

Where it is difficult for a person to urinate naturally, a Foley catheter is typically employed. It can aid with several tests and to empty the bladder prior to or following surgery. 

The following conditions call for the use of Foley catheters: 

 - To enable patients who cannot urinate because of bladder weakness or nerve injury. 

- To allow a patient's urine to drain if the tube that removes urine from their bladder is blocked (urethra). For instance, because of prostatic hypertrophy or scarring. 

- If a patient is receiving an epidural anesthesia during labour, the bladder will be drained. 

- To drain a patient's bladder prior to, during, or following a surgical procedure. 

- To administer medication directly into the bladder, as is done during bladder cancer chemotherapy. 

- As a last-resort treatment for urinary incontinence after all other options have failed.

 

How is a Foley catheter placed?

To avoid infection, the patient's vaginal area is cleaned. After that, the catheter is put into their urethra. The balloon is filled to hold the catheter in place as soon as urine starts to flow into the tubing. Then, a drainage bag is fastened to the open end. 

 

What are the different Foley catheter sizes?

 

Similar to feeding tubes, the Foley catheter is measured in French units, each of which is equivalent to 0.33 millimeters. There are many Foley catheter sizes available, ranging from 5fr to 26fr. The age of the person being catheterized will have an important impact on the sizes of Foley catheters used in a certain setting. The doctor must be very careful to select the appropriate Foley catheter sizes for you. An oversized catheter may cause discomfort and make placement challenging. Kinking and urinary leakage might happen when the Foley catheter diameters are too tiny.

 

What does Foley catheter insertion entail?

 

Whether a woman or man is receiving the surgery will affect how a Foley catheter is inserted. Preparation for the Foley catheter insertion in either sex entails:

 

• Maintaining genital cleanliness. 

• Having the patient change into comfortable attire. 

• Avoiding the use of irritants like chemicals in the genital area. 

 

Particularly when compared to that of males, the urethra in females is quite small. In the pelvis's area, directly above the vagina, is where the urethra is situated. The woman will need to lay on her back with her buttocks at the end of the table in order to make inserting the catheter easier. For the best possible view of the urethra, stirrups and elevated, bent legs (similar to gynaecological exams) are used. Foley catheter insertion is substantially easier once the proper location has been attained. 

Since the urethra in men is noticeably longer, the catheter's overall length must also be longer. Males will also need to be in a supine or bent-leg position, just like ladies. To make insertion of the Foley balloon catheter as simple as possible, the foreskin, if present, must be as far back as possible.