An alternative to 3-way catheter for bladder irrigation

Abstract

Ideally, after any form of prostatectomy or bladder tumour resection, some form of irrigation of the bladder (continuous or intermittent) is necessary in most cases to avoid the problem of blood clot retention and in some cases to reduce the incidence of post-prostatectomy infective complications.[1] This could be achieved by either a 3-way Foley Catheter inserted per urethram into the bladder, or by a through and through irrigation with 2-way Foley catheter inserted into the bladder per urethram and another through a suprapubic route. Because of the longer hospital stay associated with the later method, the use of 3-way catheter has found favour among urologists especially since the patients concerned are mostly elderly and any method that cuts down on the hospital stay is welcome. Recently, it has not been easy to secure 3-waj catheters of the right size and balloon capacity, while 2-way catheters of all sizes and balloon capacities are widely available. In an attempt to avoid a suprapubic cystostomy after prostatectomy and resection of bladder tumours, for a through and through irrigation, we resorted to an alternative method using a 2-way catheter. and a paediatric feeding tube.