My mother is 71 years old. On November 16, 2016, she underwent an aortic aneurysm repair. Since the surgery she has not been able to urinate on her own & was discharged form the hospital with a foley catheter in place. She has been to a Urologist twice since discharge once on (11/22 & again on 11/28) in which both visits the catheter was removed, she was given the voiding test with a negative result & the catheter was replaced. They gave her a folow up appt on 12/22/16. This means she will have this catheter in place for a month before it is checked again. Is this normal? Will having a catheter for such a long period of time cause permanent damage? She is now experiencing pain & vomiting. What should I do at this point? My aunt died of septic poisoning due to a similar event & I am scared for my mother. Please give me some advise.
hi,
keeping the catheter for over a month is not required actually for a aortic aneurysm repair.
it should be out forever, maximum 8 days after the surgical procedure.
At this point,do catheter clamping every 3 hourly so as to train the bladder and try getting it removed as soon as possible.
Keeping it for longer periods of time will cause sepsis as you said.
thanks
In my opinion you should go check for infection and get urine culture ASAP as vomiting and pain in the catheterization site could be a sign of infection that needs swift treatment .
It is normal to place a catheter for a long time if the void test results are negative but it is also a possibility to get an infection at this time .
Speedy recovery wishes to your Mom .
HI
CATHETERS CAN BE KEPT INSIDE THE BODY BUT NEED TO BE CHANGED EVERY WEEK FOLLOWED BY A THOROUGH BLADDER WASH BY BETADINE AND SALINE WATER.
KEEPING THE SAME CATHETER FOR 1 MONTH AT A STRETCH WILL BE HAZARDOUS
hello there
i do not understand the reason for keeping the catheter for so long after the surgery has been done.
may be she has sphincter weakness. she needs to do bladder and sphincter exercises and get rid of the catheter asap.
All you can do is look for signs of infection like fever or change in urine color or odour
Or pain , clean skin around catheter twice a day , keep urine bag below bladder level
, keep hydrated and avoid any kind of constipation
You can ask your doctor if she can have physical therapy to regain urine control sooner
To reduce the catheterization time ( yes physical therapy can do that )
Good Luck