Question

1. Intermittent catheterization to measure residual urine.

a. You will need to urinate before the procedure

b. You will have a leg bag to collect the urine

c. you cannot drink fluids for 4 hours after procedure

d. You will feel pressure when I inflate the catheter balloon.

Answer 1

Intermittent catheterization is procedure done to remove the residual urine from the bladder after patient passes the urine. So option (a) is correct that you need to urinate before the procedure.

Residual urine - This is the remaining urine present in urinary bladder after voiding urine. A post-void residual volume of more than 100 ml is considered incomplete emptying.

There are several causes if increase in residual urine :

1. Diseases of the urinary bladder

2. Diseases of the urethra

3. Neurogenic causes

Large residual urine volume reflects a degree of bladder dysfunction.

Patients with chronic urinary retention from neurogenic bladder can manage their disease with clean, intermittent self-catheterization.

Measurement of residual urine:

The measurement of postvoid residual is an important part of the study of micturition. Residual urine is usually assessed with ultrasound after uroflow measurement. Ultrasound is the procedure of choice for measurement of postvoid residual volume.

Note: Bladder capacity decreases with age so the residual urine volume decreases.