Tip-Modified Urethral Catheter with Less Complications and Accurate Guidance during Indwelling-A Preliminary Report

Background: Conventional urethral catheter is frequently associated with complications after indwelling in urinary bladder due to irritation of its long tip on the bladder mucosa. Herein we made a modified catheter with the intention of decreasing catheter-related complications. Methods: The catheter tip was designed to have a shorter length with two parallel side drainage holes and one tip pin-hole for wire guidance during catheterization under specific conditions. The newly designed catheter was applied to clinical patients requiring preoperative catheterization in a random pattern and simultaneously compared with the conventional catheter in terms of occurrence of related complications. Catheter-related complications, including obstruction, urinary tract infection (UTI), hematuria, urethral pain/bladder spasm, urgency, and urine leakage, were monitored and recorded during catheterization. These side effects are given different scores depending on the severity of event. Results: A total of 72 patients were enrolled in this study with 37 patients in the modified catheter group and 35 patients in the conventional catheter group. The modified urethral catheter possesses equal and compatible drainage function for emptying the bladder as the conventional urethral catheter. There were fewer catheter-related complications in patients indwelled with the modified catheter when compared with those having conventional catheter indwelling. Markedly, the occurrence and severity of hematuria (21.62% vs. 57.14%), urethral pain/bladder spasm (16.22% vs. 42.86%), or urgency (10.81% vs. 37.14%) were much lower in patients with modified urethral catheter indwelling than with conventional catheter indwelling. Conclusions: The tip- modified urethral catheter has better feasibility and tolerability than the conventional catheter during indwelling in terms of catheter-related complications.