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Patient Instructions

A suprapubic catheter (tube) drains urine from your bladder. It is inserted into your bladder through a small hole in your belly. You may need a catheter because you have urinary incontinence (leakage), urinary retention (not being able to urinate), surgery that made a catheter necessary, or another health problem.

Your catheter will make it easier for you to drain your bladder and avoid infections. You will need to make sure it is working properly. You will also need to know how to change it. You will need to change it every 4 to 6 weeks.

You will learn how to change your catheter in a sterile (very clean) way. After some practice, it will get easier. Your doctor will change it for you the first time.

Sometimes family members, a school nurse, or others may be able to help you change your catheter.

Your doctor will give you a prescription to buy special catheters at a medical supply store. Other supplies you will need are sterile gloves, a catheter pack, syringes, sterile solution to clean with, gel such as K-Y Jelly or Surgilube (do NOT use Vaseline), and a drainage bag. Your doctor may also give you medicine for your bladder.

Drink 8 to 12 glasses of water every day for a few days after you change your catheter. Avoid physical activity for a week or two. It is best to keep the catheter taped to your belly.

Once your catheter is in place, you will need to empty your bag only a few times a day.

See also: Urine drainage bags

Follow these guidelines for good health and skin care:

• Check the catheter site a few times a day. Check for redness, pain, swelling, or pus.
• Wash the area around your catheter every day with mild soap and water. Gently pat it dry. Showers are fine. Ask your doctor or nurse about bathtubs, swimming pools, and hot tubs.
• Do not use creams, powders, or sprays near the site.
• Apply bandages around the site the way your doctor or nurse showed you.

You will need to check your catheter and bag throughout the day.

• Make sure your bag is always below your waist. This will keep urine from going back into your bladder.
• Try not to open the catheter more than you need to. Keeping it closed will make it work better.
• Check for kinks, and move the tubing around if it is not draining.

You will need to change the catheter about every 4 to 6 weeks. Always wash your hands with soap and water for at least before changing it.

Once you have your sterile supplies ready, lie down on your back. Put on two pairs of sterile gloves, one over the other. Then:

• Make sure your new catheter is lubricated on the end you will insert into your belly.
• Clean around the site using a sterile solution.
• Deflate the balloon with one of the syringe needles.
• Take out the old catheter slowly.
• Take off the top pair of gloves.
• Insert the new catheter as far in as the other one was placed.
• Wait for urine to flow. It may take a few minutes.
• Inflate the balloon using 5 to 8 ml of sterile water.
• Attach your drainage bag.

If you are having trouble changing your catheter, call your doctor right away. Insert a catheter into your urethra through your urinary opening in your labia (women) or penis (men) to pass urine. Do NOT remove the suprapubic catheter because the hole can close up quickly.

Call your doctor or nurse if:

• You are having trouble changing your catheter or emptying your bag.
• Your bag is filling up quickly, and you have an increase in urine.
• You are leaking urine.
• You notice blood in your urine a few days after you leave the hospital.
• You are bleeding at the insertion site after you change your catheter, and it doesn’t stop within 24 hours.
• Your catheter seems blocked.
• You notice grit or stones in your urine.
• Your supplies do not seem to be working (balloon is not inflating or other problems).
• You notice a smell or change in color in your urine, or your urine is cloudy.
• You have signs of infection (a burning sensation when you urinate, fever, or chills).

SPT

Updated by: Louis S. Liou, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Urology, Department of Surgery, Boston University School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.