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Anyone drain their catheter directly into a diaper on a regular basis? Is this common practice? If so, has this been approved by your doctor? How long of tube do you use. Any other helpful info that I can take to the diaper factories to make this experience better? Thanks very much in advance to all that share.

Sincerely,
Adam

I can't be of a whole lot of help here because I can't use a catheter due to my condition but I have heard of some that do. My thinking is that it could cause so major problems because the exposed urine will get on the catheter itself where it enters the body and will be setting you up for a major infection. I wouldn't recommend it unless your doctor gives the green light.

Rope is correct this would be very bad practice indeed. A catheter system is best as a closed system. Always remember a catheter is a ladder to your bladder.

I'm not "recommending" draining into a diaper, but I've been hearing from more and more people that they do this, and some with approval from their doctors. So, I'm looking to find out if more doctors are becoming ok with this or people are doing this on their own, how prevalent, and why and how often they do this.

In my opinion there is no way in this world that any doctor would recommend a catheter open ended and just draining into a diaper. The only fairly safe way of doing it would be to use a flip Flo valve on the end of the catheter and tucked into the nappy. This could then be opened to flood the diaper then closed when the bladder was empty. Why anybody would want to do this instead of letting the urine go into a leg bag or with a valve just down a toilet is debatable. An open catheter will end in disaster if used for more than a few hours.

I've never had to use a catheter but it seems like this might be OK if there was some kind of a made for medical use one-way check valve added to the end of the catheter. At least theoretically it would still be a closed system. All that said it still seems like a questionable practice to me.

Due to the high likelihood of Urinary Tract Infections, this could never be realistically suggested by a doctor. I would ask those who told you this, Adam, to provide proof that a doctor encouraged that course of action. I have heard of wearing a diaper over a catheter to prevent drip leaks, but the catheter was still going to a bag. Catheters are already a higher risk for infections. It just doesn't make sense to increase that risk for something the catheter wasn't designed for.

This is not a recommendation, just a response to your question from user. Please consult a healthcare professional yourself...They say that their urologist recommended this since with Foley catheter they are constantly draining so it is very difficult for bacteria to get up. They stay hydrated well.

I'm curious if this is a very isolated view from one urologist or others have heard this as well?

I strongly recommend that you NEVER let a Foley catheter drain directly into a diaper. When I was working as a registered nurse I inserted many catheters, it is ALLWAYS a sterile procedure. If a catheter is left to drain into a diaper, bacteria can migrate into the bladder. This will result in a UTI.

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RetiredRN

Like I said earlier as far as UTIs are concerned a catheter is indeed a ladder to your bladder. I should know I have had one for the last five years and lost a testicle just two weeks ago as a direct result of an infection I got because of my catheter. Do not play with catheters.