Hi ya'll- If anyone can enlighten me it would be greatly appreciated. cant find all the info i need regarding spt's on the web and want to know why people need them as opposed to just straight cathing. My husband is a t4 complete and restricts his fluid intake so that he doesnt have to pee as much- i think his bladder only holds about 150-250 cc's even though he's on oxybutin. His urine is always dark with lots of sediment and He averages about 5 or 6 uti's/ year which are mild for he flushes out the bacteria with drinking lots of water and its resolved with in a day or two. Im just wondering if he will ever need one of these spt's? Just thinking about what may be down the road for us. Does fuction of the bladder get worse over time or is everybody just different? And also- he uses the same catheter for months and keeps it clean by dwelling it in a bottle of alcohol- Is this the best method to keep it clean? Im afraid the little bit of alcohol that being inserted into the steril bladder may cause him problems? Not sure. If anyone has some info let me know- thanks so much.

Hi hopelesslydevoted,

A Suprapubic Catheter is a long term indwelling cath that enters the bladder through the abdomen & replaces the use of a Foley indwelling catheter that enters the bladder through the urethra.
There are too many reasons to list here why someone needs to use a foley or suprapubic catheter but the Suprapubic would normally be used in people with urethral injury or obstruction.

The use of both types of catheter comes with some risks that should not be taken lightly:
Bladder stones, Urethral injury, Urinary tract or kidney infections & even bladder cancer.

Your husband could be having the problems he is having because he restricts his fluid intake, unless he has another medical reason not to drink as much he should start taking more fluid, at least two litres per day.

hi the best advice is to drink as much that you can manage im in a nursing home suprapubic is changed every three month i use a bellybag which is direct to my cathetre capacity 500mil.litre purmanently antibiotic curfalexin one nightly hope this helps and welcome to the forum

Thank you

Just a suggestion. Insurance companies now cover as many disposable caths as you need,(I use 180 per month) so there's no need to reuse. Liiting intake is a good idea, but don't overdo it. Also, if he is having leakage problems, ask your urologist to check out the allergan program of injecting the bladder with botox. it really cuts down on the urgency and makes bladder program more predictable.

At t4, he should be able to manage this quite well

good luck

irish

never heard of putting botox i the bladder- very interesting- thank you

hi, i have a supra pubic catheter, it is an indwelling foley cath that is changed every 4 weeks by a urology nurse at the local hospital. i live in Australia so we have a free health system here.
your husband is probably getting the UTI because he is restricting his fluids, so drink a couple of litres a day plus take 1000mg of Vitamin C twice daily and high dose cranberry tabs. The bacteria in his urine will be flushed through if he drinks plenty of water.
high sugar intake is unhealthy for urinary tract, so keep off the soda pop.
Re-use of the caths is OK as long as they are sterilised. Make sure they are well lubricated as trauma to the urethra is a haven for bugs.
hope this is helpful.

We battled UTI's for 6 years now and three weeks ago we had the procedure done for the SPC all has been well. I may suggest and antibiotic taken daily to kill that bacteria that lurgs around in the bladder. It seemed every time he had his indwelling catheter changed he would get the awful UTI. He use to self cath as well but what a chore. I can not believe you health care system makes you reuse... UGGG You need to find a good urologist. I also suggest cranberry juice. Fluid intake is very important. He should not be cutting back on them so he doesn't need to cath as much. Best of luck and do you research. Life is full of trials and errors. What may work for one may not for others.

The dream seeker...are you referencing me when you said UGG, in relation to re-use of caths? if so, I was replying to the original question from hopelesslydevoted, which was if it's OK to re-use his cath for intermittent self cathing.
of course it would be preferable to use a fresh cath each time but soaking it in some product that ensures it is sterilised is OK. It would have to be pure alcohol, better still there are a number of products available from pharmacies that are for soaking items to sterilise them. eg for babies bottles.

QUOTE (alex4bs @ Oct 27 2009, 09:15 PM)

hi the best advice is to drink as much that you can manage im in a nursing home suprapubic is changed every three month i use a bellybag which is direct to my cathetre capacity 500mil.litre purmanently antibiotic curfalexin one nightly hope this helps and welcome to the forum

hiya

Do you mind me asking you where you get your bellybags from? (I see you are in UK also), I have tried looking for them but the nearest I have found is the thigh bag from Manfred Sauer.

Thank you

Hannah

I have a Suprapubic Catheter which is changed every 5 weeks. I use a catheter which has silver threads in it and have never had a UTI.

Not at all. We also reused when we self cath . I was referring to UGG... about the chore of having to sterilize and just stating that it is so nice to have the SPC now. I am not hear to degrade anyone or be degraded sorry if I offended you and I guess I will have to be a little more tasteful with my words. Peace On Earth & Happy Holidays!