Shorter Tip Superpubic Catheter?

[stephen3232]

Looking for advice on catheters.
I'm a C5 and use an indwelling superpubic catheter. My urologist recommended that I find a catheter with a shorter tip (distance from the balloon to the edge) as my current catheter is into my prostate area.
However I've done some research and there doesn't seem to a designation for this distance. It's just the french size & balloon size.
Has anyone that uses a superpubic site ever encountered this?

[SCI-Nurse]

Did he mention a Pezzer mushroom or Malecot catheter instead of the Foley catheter? Downside of both is that they are not something you can change yourself but would need to be changed at your urologist's office. Even many ERs would not have the expertise to change one without calling in a urologist. What size Foley catheter are you using now?

(KLD)

[stephen3232]

I'll ask about that. How are those changed? Typically I have a home health nurse change my Foley, but sounds like that is not possible here.
I use a 16 Fr 30 mL catheter now.
You're saying that shorter tip Foley catheters don't exist?

[SCI-Nurse]

I am not aware of a Foley catheter with a shorter tip. Do you really need a 30ml. balloon? That is quite large for a 16Fr. Foley.
Both the mushroom catheter and Malecot are "inflated" and "deflated" with a guidewire, with some risk of bladder perforation if not done by a health care professional trained in how to do this. Even the urology specialty nurses were not allowed to change them where I worked...only urologists did it. (KLD)

[gjnl]

I'm not sure I fully understand the issue, but I will mention an alternative catheter that is not particularly widely known. It is called Duette by Poiesis (https://www.poiesismedical.com). This catheter has two balloons, one balloon (5cc) at the end for cushion against the bladder wall and the other one is the anchoring balloon (10cc). The drainage eyelets are in between the two balloons. The catheter is considered a unisex catheter. The company doesn't make one length for women and another for men. That said, there are generally three lengths for catheters: Female Foley Catheters run between 20-26cm, Male (or Standard) Foley Catheters run between 40-45cm, and Pediatric Foley Catheters run between 30-31cm. It is not generally recommended for men to use the shorter catheters because the catheter balloon could be inflated within the longer male urethra.

Discuss these different options with your urologist before trying the shorter lengths.

NL

[SCI-Nurse]

I am assuming that the OP has a very shrunken bladder, so when his SP Foley catheter is inserted, the tip goes all the way through the bladder and into the prostatic urethra. A shorter tip would help with this, but I am not sure he would have the bladder capacity to accommodate a Duette from what he describes above.
I'm also not sure that a shorter over-all Foley catheter (such as a female or pediatric version) actually has a shorter tip. In my experience, the overall catheter is shorter, but the length of the tip is about the same. This is not the case with a mushroom or Malecot catheter. (KLD)

[KyleP2112]

A little while back I used to get shorter tipped Foley catheters through my medical supply company but it doesn’t seem like they are around as far as I can tell. You can try searching online for different companies that sell catheters and maybe you could find something

[SCI-Nurse]

Don’t insert it so far. If out of bladder it will leak. And the balloon could be is blown up in the wrong area. May not empty all the urine. Mark the catheter or measure from tip so inserted correct distance each time. CWO