Sometimes in our life there are diseases in which an artificial connection with vessels or body cavities is required for the introduction of drugs into them, or emptying from urinary fluid. This process is called catheterization. Apply for medical reasons.
Catheters. Kinds
A catheter is a medical instrument, which is a tube through which the patient receives the necessary medicinal solutions and fluid, as well as the fluid is removed from the bladder when it cannot perform this function itself.
Catheters are vascular and abdominal. The most common abdominal catheter is a urinary urethral catheter. It is designed to be installed in the urethra, to empty the bladder from the accumulated fluid, when this cannot occur naturally. Urinary catheters require constant wear, therefore, are fixed to the skin at the injection site. The most common in medical practice is the Foley urological catheter. These are two-three-way catheters designed for long-term or short-term catheterization of the bladder during medical procedures.
Catheters need to be cleaned!
An established urinary catheter needs to be cleaned and treated with special solutions from time to time. Therefore, the patient himself and his relatives need to know how to flush the catheter correctly. According to the rules, it is necessary to monitor which fluid passes through the catheter. Since the frequency of washing the tube passing this fluid depends on this. The tube should be flushed weekly, although in practice this happens every two weeks.
A delay in the urine bladder can cause many unpleasant and even serious consequences, since stagnant urine is an ideal environment in which various pathogens feel very comfortable and actively develop. They can trigger infections. Therefore, flushing the bladder with a special catheter is a very important procedure, which makes it possible to protect yourself from many diseases in the genitourinary tract. In order to reduce the risk of infection to a minimum, the method of catheterization is used. Its essence is that a special tube is inserted into the urethra, to which a reservoir is attached - a collector for urine. It contributes to the timely removal of urine from the bladder, preventing the infection processes from developing in its cavity.
To resist the development of infections, you need to know how to properly flush the catheter. In medical institutions, qualified personnel deal with this issue. In this case, the risk is reduced to almost zero. But at home, you should carefully follow all the rules and recommendations for cleaning the catheter, so as not to aggravate the patient's condition with inflammation of the bladder. If a person is forced to wear a catheter, the appearance of infections in the bladder is extremely undesirable, and they can be avoided if you know how to flush the urinary catheter. When caring for this device, it should be remembered that all necessary manipulations should be performed only after the most thorough and lengthy washing of the hands, and even with medical gloves.
Catheter cleaning
To correctly carry out the procedure, you must follow these recommendations:
- wash with soapy water the area of the skin near the catheter twice a day in order to prevent the development of infection and its entry into the catheter;
- after each bowel movement, the patient must be washed and dried with a towel or napkin with gentle movements to dry the skin;
- for women, during the procedure of washing and wiping the perineum, it is necessary to make movements from front to back so that the bacteria located in the rectum do not get into the genitourinary tract and the catheter tube;
- daily wash the urinal with a solution of 3% table vinegar with water in a ratio of 1: 7;
- at the same time, you need to empty the urinal every 3-4 hours;
- keep the urinal below the level at which the bladder is located;
- report any discomfort immediately to the attending physician;
- a clogged catheter that begins to hurt the patient needs to be replaced immediately;
- Do not pull the catheter and disconnect it only for washing, replacing, and also after each emptying of the urinal.
To make the patient feel comfortable with a catheter at home, he or his family should be taught how to flush the catheter at home. This procedure is not so complicated, but requires thoroughness and attention.
Cleaning frequency
In order for the device to be cleaned efficiently, you need to find out how often the catheter is washed. According to medical recommendations, this procedure should be performed daily, and if the case is quite simple, then it is enough to rinse with a slightly warmed saline solution. This daily procedure will protect the patient from pathogenic bacteria. The amount of solution for washing the bladder is determined by the total volume of the organ. When this organ is filled with urine, you need to measure the amount of urine excreted and apply a disinfectant solution in the same amount.
Furacilin Rinse
If flakes or sediment appear in the urine, the catheter should be flushed with furacilin. You can prepare a solution of furatsilin suitable for disinfection at home, by dissolving two of its tablets in 400 ml of slightly cooled boiled water. Passing the solution through double gauze, it can be used. But still, it is better to buy this solution in a pharmacy or use 3% boric acid or dioxidine diluted in a ratio of 1:40, or miramistin or 2% chlorhexine.
Catheter flush preparation
Relatives of the patient often panic, having no idea how to flush the bladder catheter so that it is effective and does not add new problems to the patient. But do not worry: every serious and responsible person will be able to cope with this task. You only need to carefully read the recommendations of specialists and follow them step by step. However, before proceeding with the washing, preparatory manipulations should be carried out:
- Wash hands thoroughly and protect them with sterile gloves.
- Treat the desired surface with a disinfectant solution and allow it to dry.
- Remove the cork from the saline bottle and treat it with alcohol. To achieve the desired sterility, do this for at least 15 seconds.
- Do not touch the neck of the fingers and do not poke them inward.
- Use a sterile syringe.
- Insert the needle into the saline solution in a vertical position, immersing its tip in the liquid.
- Pour the solution into the syringe and remove excess air from it, do not put the needle anywhere else.
Urinary catheter flushing
Now let's focus on how to flush the urinary catheter. Starting to rinse, you must again wash your hands very well, and then perform the following manipulations:
- Wipe with alcohol the place where the drainage channel and catheter come into contact, doing this for at least 30 seconds.
- Wait until the skin and the appliance naturally dry.
- Have a towel at the place where the catheter is flushed, as well as a container for collecting urine and other liquids.
- Disconnect the drain pipe from the system, close the end with a sterile tip and set aside for a while.
- Insert an empty syringe into the catheter and pull the piston to check if the urine remains there, drain it into the prepared container.
- Pump out the contents of the catheter completely.
- Take another syringe with saline solution, slowly and as accurately as possible, insert it into the catheter until resistance appears. Maintain a pause of several seconds after each 2 ml of saline solution poured, again pouring 2 ml and again a short pause until you pour the whole solution - this is the right way to perform this manipulation.
- Squeezing the end of the catheter, pull out the syringe, close the valve on the catheter.
- Allow well to drain fluid from the catheter, make sure that it is empty.
- Wipe the catheter at its junction with the drain tube.
- Wash your hands again and wipe the end of the catheter with alcohol at the point where it connects to the tube, and let it dry.
- Then, on the other side of the tube, remove the protective cap and also wipe the end with alcohol.
- Insert the dry tube into the catheter, making sure that the fluid flows out normally.
If you doubt how to flush the catheter, it is better to use the help of a urologist. The doctor will be able to show the whole process, indicate errors in the home flushing of the catheter.
Foley's catheter. Features
It is necessary to dwell separately on how to flush the Foley catheter. Some operations are performed in the same way as when flushing a conventional urinary catheter, but there are also features:
- wash your hands with soap for 15 seconds, disinfect them well with an alcohol towel;
- wipe the working surface with a disinfectant, let it dry;
- remove the plastic stopper from the bottle with saline, rub the neck of the bottle with alcohol;
- wipe the rubber neck for at least 15 seconds;
- After processing, do not touch disinfected surfaces with your hands;
- use a sterile syringe for flushing;
- attach the needle to the syringe with a cap that can be removed before use, making sure that it is tightly connected to the syringe;
- do not touch the needle with your fingers;
- pulling the piston, fill the syringe with air exactly to the level of 10 ml;
- by inserting a sterile needle into the rubber cap of the bottle, release air directly into the bottle, holding the needle strictly upright;
- turn over the saline bottle and fill the 10 ml syringe;
- the needle should remain inserted in the cap of the salt solution, be below the liquid level, so as not to trap air;
- remove air bubbles by tapping the syringe, carefully push them out, gently pressing the plunger, while the needle remains in the saline solution;
- pull out the needle by closing it with a cap.
Flushing Foley's catheter
The preparatory part is over. Now directly on how to flush the catheter. Here, we also act by analogy with the above method:
- wash my hands thoroughly, wipe dry with a paper towel;
- we clean the catheter and the drainage tube by rubbing it with alcohol for 15-30 seconds, let it dry, without accelerating the process;
- prepare a towel and a container for draining fluid and urine;
- disconnect the drainage tube from the catheter, close the free end with a cap;
- then repeat the same list of manipulations as when washing a conventional urinary catheter.
Catheter in Vienna
It is necessary to dwell a little more on how to flush a catheter in a vein. Through intravenous infusion, injections are made directly into the venous bed. After each infusion, it is necessary to flush the catheter with saline in order to minimize the interaction of drugs and prevent clogging of blood vessels. The catheter is washed with normal 0.9% saline or a mixture of heparin with sodium chloride in a ratio of 0.02 ml per 1 ml, respectively. This must be done before and after the catheter is used.
Speaking about how to flush the venous catheter, this process is carried out as follows: after the end of intravenous infusions of drugs, the catheter is filled with 5-6 ml of dissolved isotonic sodium chloride with 2500 IU of heparin, then the cannula at the catheter is closed with a sterilized rubber stopper. Rinsing is carried out after each infusion 2-3 times during the day.
Conclusion
Flushing the catheter is an important topic. Knowing this will help provide patients with sterile care for catheters, protect them from infections and inflammations of diseased organs.