title: Assessing the effectiveness of different urinary catheters in emptying the bladder: an application of transvaginal ultrasound.
abstract: The effectiveness of different types of urinary catheters in completely draining the bladder has not been tested. Transvaginal ultrasound, which is able to measure bladder volumes in women from 2 to 175 ml, provides a means of measuring any fluid volume remaining in the bladder following catheter drainage. Using transvaginal ultrasound, the post-catheterisation bladder volumes were measured in 26 female patients; 14 underwent urethral catheterisation using either a 14F short plastic female catheter or a Foley catheter of the same size (balloon not inflated); 12 had an indwelling 12F suprapublic catheter following bladder neck surgery. The mean post-catheterisation bladder volumes after using the short plastic female and Foley catheters were less than 1 ml and 77 ml respectively. A short plastic catheter should be used in women to collect the residual urine volume by urethral catheterisation. A Foley catheter is relatively ineffective in this task. A 12F suprapubic catheter was found to drain the bladder relatively well. The mean post-catheterisation bladder volume was 35 ml. Prior to removing a suprapubic catheter post-operatively, it is recommended that the residual urine volume (measured using the suprapubic catheter) be checked by measuring the post-catheterisation bladder volume (using either a short plastic catheter or transvaginal ultrasound).
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Royal Liverpool Hospital.
authors.forename: B T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Haylen
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Frazer
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: MacDonald
mesh_terms: D004322:Drainage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D014463:Ultrasonography; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000473:pathology*; D014546:Urinary Catheterization / Q000379:methods*; D014550:Urinary Incontinence, Stress / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D014621:Vagina