clover
Posts: 68
Joined: 7/5/2005 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: maybemaybenot If you are going toleave the catheter in for days, you do not want to just have it hanging out of you. You will want to connect it to a continuous drainage system or leg bag < sterile> If you leave the catheter open and not connected to a closed collection system you are putting yourself at very high risk for infection. < in the case of leaving it in more than a few hours > This is what I would worry about too. In the hospital, we sometimes use open caths to drain urine straight out of the body into an open container, but it's a temporary measure to relieve urinary retention...and the catheter is in for all of one minute before being removed. If a catheter is going to be used for any length of time, a closed drainage system is used. And even with the closed system, risk of infection is high and gets even higher the longer it's used. Nurses aren't even supposed to handle the end of an open catheter without sterile gloves on. Even the open drainage container used in those instances are sterile and thrown away directly after. Leaving that open end in an unsterile diaper (which, even if it was sterile, stopped being so as soon as it touched your skin) is pretty risky. All of us have e coli in our colons, and some of it inevitably manages to travel out and up at times, regardless of how clean we try to be. BossySSBBW mentioned clipping the catheter shut. I don't think it's the best option, but it might be better than just leaving it open if you're opposed to the collection bag. The one problem I see with it is that you would need to unclip it to drain the urine fairly frequently to keep it from backing up too much, which can cause its own set of problems. There would still be a high risk of infection with continued use. The hypnosis idea sounds interesting. I've never had experience with it myself, but it might at least be worth a shot before trying catheterization. All that being said...I'm sure I might have a fantasy I'd risk a trip to the doc and a round of antibiotics for. If you decide to go ahead with it, just be aware of the symptoms of UTIs and bladder infections so you can be on the lookout.
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