What is Foley Catheter

Foley catheter, also known as an indwelling urinary catheter, is a thin, sterile tube inserted into the body to drain urine from the bladder. The tip of the catheter has a small balloon filled with a solution to hold the catheter inside the bladder.

Highlights

• A Foley catheter is a urinary catheter used to dilate the urethra for normal urine flow in patients whose urine flow is affected.
• Prostate enlargement, bladder injury, or specific diagnostic procedures may affect urine flow.
• The most common risk of foley catheterization is an increased infection risk.
• Long-term foley catheter emplacement in the bladder may cause redness and/or pain in genital areas.

What are foley catheter and catheterization?

A foley catheter is a thin tube to clear the urethra (a pathway for the urine to drain out of the body) from the urinary bladder. Foley catheter is inserted through the penis or vulva of the human being into the bladder (or sometimes directly inserted into the bladder by cutting a small portion of below stomach area), of which accumulated urine is drained out with the help of this tube (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Foley Catheterization.

This tube has a small hole at the bladder end for urine drainage. Inserting a Foley catheter into the urinary bladder is called catheterization. At the bladder end of the foley catheter is present a small balloon filled with water during catheterization to fix the tube inside or else it may come out of the body.

Why is foley catheterization done?

There are several reasons why a person undergoes a foley catheterization procedure. A few common reasons include many disorders, procedures, or problems.

Urgency in urine: This is a condition in which urine is retained in the bladder or sometimes in the urinary pelvis, probably due to urine stones. It causes a person to feel urgency or hesitancy in urine while only a little urine is passed out of the body. Similarly, a person feels discomfort and difficulty in urinating; the urine stream is also decreased and requires more force to pass out, and sensation of incomplete urination or incomplete emptying of the bladder.

Another reason for foley catheterization is some obstruction in the urethra. This mainly happens in people with an increase in the prostate size that pressurizes and, in turn, decreases the internal diameter of the urethra – also known as narrowing of the urethra. However, although prostate enlargement occurs almost in every man, it is still uncommon in every person and is age dependent.

If you have an injury in your urinary system, this may also affect your daily urine output. Therefore, doctors critically monitor the urine output of such patients, and if it is too decreased to normalize the kidney function, foley catheterization is a must.

Another important case in which foley catheterization is done is when a person is undergone a particular diagnosis to identify a specific disease or issues that can otherwise not be seen through ultrasound or CT scan. A typical example is a color doppler CT scan for urinary examination in which a particular radioactive chemical is injected into the patient’s vein, followed by a scan. Because radioactive chemicals are heavy in nature and cause slow urination, they are not done in patients with high creatinine levels.

Our nervous system is spread throughout the body; nerve-related bladder dysfunction may also occur in spinal trauma patients. Foley catheterization is also performed in spinal trauma patients to avoid urine accumulation and its ultimate effect on kidneys.

Foley catheterization is also performed in patients who undergo urinary surgery.

Risks associated with foley catheterization

A foley catheterization procedure even is done under sterile conditions, which increases your chances of getting a urinary tract infection. Even a patient can get an infection after a few weeks of foley catheterization because there are increasing chances for impurities, bacteria, or other chemicals to retain to the walls of the catheter. Sometimes the catheter may also damage and causes bacterial accumulation at such sites. All this collectively increases your chances of getting an infection. The balloon can also be broken down and removed by a doctor. The balloon may also not inflate after the catheter is inserted; in this case, another catheter is placed. The urine flowing into the bag may also stop due to incorrect positioning of the catheter or bag or to obstruction of the tube. Sometimes, the balloon is opened before the catheter is completely inserted into the urethra, resulting in rupturing of the urethra that may be long-term in some patients with scarce presence. Bladder spasm may also occur, which is the sudden intense urge of urination, and it can be painful.

Complications

1. A patient should immediately visit his doctor if:
2. They observe red urine or bleeding from the urethra.
3. Burning sensation during urination.
4. Urgency in urinating.
5.  
6. Foul-smelling
7. Redness/swelling/pain in genital areas.