If a person has had a supra pubic now for about 4 years and no problems but now once two weeks ago and againg last night it passed what looked like a big blood clot and then bled some more but not into the bag but from the entrance hole.
Is this normal or should we be as worried as we are?

did you recently change cath ?.....when i change mine i always have a bit of ext bleed for a couple days and a small clot or two passes just from irritation to bladder wall.....before, when nurses changed for me i had even more bleeding and irritation but much less now that i change my own.....occasionally, if i accidentally pull or push on it i'll pass a little clot too

I had changed it for her two days prior. This clot was kind of big though. If I had to put it all in a measure it would probably @ 3 tablespoons. It was very brite in color. I don't remember how long it had been after we changed the foley the last time that she did passed blood.
It's just weird that it's happening now after so many years of having the supra pubic.
I feel a little better since you say it happened to you.

Hi there,

The reasons for Blood in catheter bags/tubes etc are varied, the most common are:
Infection
Trauma, the catheter tip can aggrevate the bladder wall.
Sometimes you can get growth of tissue around the hole, where the catheter goes in, we call this Hypergranulation, this stuff bleeds like hell, and needs to be burnt off by the doctor.

Everybody who has a SPC needs to be reviewed by a Urologist every 5 years to exclude any changes

Regards

Your friendly Urology Nurse

hey

mine bleedx from the site if it gets pulled


maybe that happened?

Ag's

Hi,

If you had changed the catheter two days prior, then the blood clot was probably due to localised trauma around the hole when the catheter was changed. This is common, and happens when the balloon of the catheter has stretched, and makes the catheter tight when removed resulting is minor tissue damage.

The bleeding should settle down over a few days, but if the catheter is snagged on clothing etc, it can cause fresh trauma.

Keep the wound site clean, and spray around the hole daily with antiseptic spray to prevent infection.

If it doesn't settle after a week, get checked out by a doctor just to make sure nothing is infected.

Regards

Simon

I also have a SP catheter, mine's been in for over two years. I get a bit of bleeding at the site but nothing major. I have recurring hyper-granulation that is 'burnt' off with silver nitrate sticks every few weeks.
How often do you change the catheter? mine is changed every four weeks by a urology nurse at the local hospital, i am a nurse myself but would find it too hard to do my own change.
I agree with Simon, do you think you may have traumatised the opening at the time of the change? Make sure the balloon is properly deflated before you ease it out, don't try and hurry it, ie don't pull on the syringe plunger when you are getting the water out of the balloon, let it flow out itself
I think it is recommended that you have a bladder ultrasound every 18 months to 2 years to keep an eye on risks associated with SP caths eg bladder cancer and stones, (not related to your current problem)

i get a little bleeding daily im on warferin not for cathetre curfalexin anti biotic long term stops infection

When I had one of these many moons ago.
I also used a flip flo valve to keep a expanding bladder. My issue with a cath tube change was that when doing so, most of the time the bladder wall was damaged.
So the medical advise at the time was to do a cath change with a part filled not empty bladder.
About a year later I had a Clam operation and now SIC.

Thanks for all the responses. I don't think I did anything different these past two changes but it becomes second nature so even though I go through the checklist in my mind before the change I could have missed something. It's almost time for another change so we'll see.
I do feel a little better knowing it happens to others and that the bleeding does stop after the initial installation and cleaning of exterior surface.