Urinary catheterization diary – A useful tool in tracking causes of non-deflating Foley catheter

Abstract

Introduction and objective: Most urinary catheters marketed in developing countries are unidentifiable after unpacking. A catheterization diary which is an important tool for the documentation of catheter use is rarely used in medical facilities in these countries. In this paper we report on the introduction of a catheterization diary after an unusually high incidence of non-deflating catheters – three cases in 1 week, where all the involved catheters were not identifiable at the time of consultation.

Material and methods: In August 2013, we started to keep urinary catheterization records in our outpatient urology clinic and prospectively documented the following information for every patient undergoing catheterization or catheter change: patient-related data, the catheter used, the catheterization procedure, problems encountered/solutions and the follow-up plan. The main aim of this study was to determine the cause/source of this unusually high incidence of non-deflating catheter  balloons.

Results: During the study period, 337 catheterizations were performed in 109 patients (both new catheterizations and scheduled catheter changes), using eight different brands of silicone-coated latex Foley catheters manufactured in China: Agary (n = 21), Zenith (n = 68), Newlife (n = 39), U-mec (n = 92), LifeCare (n = 46), Medihel (n = 38), Hospibrand (n = 27) and Lifesign (n = 6). Non-deflating balloons were encountered in 5 out of 21 catheters of the Agary brand. Discontinuing the use of this type of catheter completely solved the problem of non-deflating catheter balloons. On the other hand, catheter balloons which failed to inflate were found in 8 out of 92 cases using the U-mec brand.

Conclusions: Most urinary catheters marketed in developing countries are unidentifiable after unpacking. A catheterization diary is a useful tool for solving catheter-related problems, and its application in healthcare facilities should be encouraged. Companies marketing Foley catheters should print the catheter name on both the catheter packaging and on the catheter itself.