Medical Instruments & Procedures

Part — 1

CATHETERS —

simple catheter

Plain or simple catheters

• It is a plain tube made of rubber or synthetic mate­rial.
• The terminal end of the tube is rounded. There is a hole just before the tip.
• It comes in different sizes.
• It can be used as a drain anywhere in the body even as a urinary catheter.

Foley’s Catheter

Foley’s Catheter

• It is a self-retaining catheter which can be left inside the urethra for many days.
• It is used in cases of retention of urine, and to mea­sure the urine output.
• There is a small narrow tube inside a bigger tube. The narrow tube ends before the tip of the catheter and at the other end it is open.
• From this open end saline or plain water can be pushed in with a syringe to inflate the bulb, after insertion of the catheter into the bladder. When this bulb is in­flated it is retained inside the bladder and cannot come out till the bulb is deflated.
• It is available in various sizes denoted by F for French scale.

Malecot’s Catheter —

Malecot’s Catheter

 

• It is a self-retaining catheter made of red rubber. The tip of the catheter has many slits which can retract and form a winged end.
• This tip is stretched over a forceps for introduction through an opening and when this forceps is removed the tip retracts and is retained.
• It cannot be passed through the urethra, so it has no use in the female patient for urinary retention.
• It is used to drain the bladder from a suprapubic cys­totomy.
• It is also used to drain empyema, pneumothorax, nephrostomy, gastrostomy.
• It cannot be used in females or males per urethra as a urinary catheter.

These are common catheters which are used in general medical uses,