Urine leakage in persons with spinal cord injury and using long-term Foley catheters: a simple solution

To visualize residual urine in a bladder using a regular Foley catheter and then using a modified Foley catheter.

To determine whether a modified Foley catheter eliminates or reduces a catheter-associated deposition of residual urine around the balloon and whether this reduction eliminates catheter leakage.

A patient with chronic spinal cord injury using a Foley catheter and experiencing significant refractory urine leakage around the catheter.

The design of a Foley catheter and the way it drains lead to the constant presence of small amounts of residual urine at the base, surrounding the balloon. The Foley catheter was modified using a cook catheter punch to make two extra holes just below the balloon.

A cystogram of an unmodified Foley catheter showed the presence of residual urine around the Foley balloon. A cystogram of a modified Foley catheter eliminated this residual urine around the balloon. After the modification there was no more leakage around the Foley catheter.

Modification of the catheter, as described, eliminated the residual urine around the catheter balloon and eliminated clinical urine leakage around the Foley catheter.