Pediatric Urology

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PRESENTER: Hi. I'm going to show you how I empty my bladder using a catheter. This is called clean intermittent catheterization. I can do this while I'm at home or on the go.

First, I collect all my supplies, which usually includes a catheter kit or a new, unopened catheter, lubricant jelly, and a collection container. If it's time to flush my bladder, I'll have saline solution and a big plastic syringe, too.

I always wash my hands before I start. I put on gloves if they come in the kit. What's inside the packaging is considered sterile or clean, so I only touch these supplies when I have gloves on.

Some kids catheterize their urethra. I catheterize my stoma, or channel. I clean my stoma opening using cleansing swabs. The cleansing swabs can sometimes leave a brown or a clear color on my skin, and that's OK. I put the swab in the center of my stoma, then draw a circle around the opening. I do this at least twice to be extra clean.

Next, I take the catheter out from its packaging. I need to put jelly lubricant onto the tip of the catheter. The jelly lubricant helps the catheter slide into my channel easier. I open the jelly packet, and then I dip the tip of the catheter into the jelly.

When I'm ready to place my catheter into my stoma, I hold the catheter close to the tip with one hand and guide the catheter into my channel, towards my bladder. My other hand is holding the catheter at the open end, where the urine will drain. It took some practice, but now I hold the catheter like a pro.

I push the catheter towards my bladder until I see urine come out of the other end. I drain the urine into a container or a toilet. It can take 5 to 10 minutes to fully drain my bladder. And that's OK because I want my bladder to be totally empty after I catheterize.

When urine stops flowing, I push the catheter a little bit farther into my bladder-- about 1 inch more, to make sure I drain my bladder completely. If it's the time of day I flush my bladder, I won't remove my catheter just yet.

I fill up a syringe with saline and connect it to the end of my catheter. I push the saline into my bladder with one hand and hold the catheter with the other. Then, I pull back on the syringe to pull out all the fluid. Then, I empty out the fluid. I usually do this at least two times with clean saline each time.

When I'm finished, I pull out the catheter and wipe my stoma with a towelette, a clean paper towel, or a clean washcloth. Then, if I've used a container, I empty the urine from the container into the toilet, and throw everything else away. And that's how it's done.

I was a little nervous at first. But with practice, it became so easy. You're joining a huge community of kids just like us, who have learned to use their new catheters. If you have any questions at all, be sure to reach out to your health care provider. Thanks for watching.

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