How effective are urinary catheters for managing bladder problems after SCI?

Author: SCIRE Community Team | Reviewer: Bonnie Nybo | Published: 24 October 2017 | Updated: ~

The use of urinary catheters for emptying the bladder is considered an essential standard care for bladder problems after SCI. Because of this, most research studies have instead looked at answering important questions about the relationships between catheters and complications.

There is weak evidence from two studies that intermittent catheterization has the lowest risk of complications (such as urinary tract infections), followed by condom catheters. The highest risk of complications is with the use of indwelling catheters. Another study provides weak evidence that indwelling catheters are also related to higher risk of bladder cancer compared to other types of catheters.

However, the choice of which type of catheterization to use is often related to many different factors, like level of injury and the type of bladder problems that a person has. For instance, another study found that for people with high-level tetraplegia, suprapubic catheters may lead to fewer complications than intermittent catheterization.

Additionally, the type of catheter equipment used for catheterization may also be important to reduce risk. There is strong evidence from a review of five studies that using lubricated (hydrophilic) catheters for intermittent catheterization reduces the risk of urinary tract infections compared to non-lubricated catheters.