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Use of Coudé Urinary Catheter in Urology

Urinary catheterization is a technique used to insert a plastic tube into a patient's urethra in order to relieve his or her bladder of urine or to administer treatment to the bladder directly. Catheters come in different tip sizes and shapes, and they are sometimes different for male and female physiology. The Coudé catheter is a special curved-tip catheter designed to easily slide the tube past a man's prostate gland or any obstructions in the urethra on the way to the bladder. It is a subtype of Foley catheters, named for the French word meaning "elbow."

  1. When Catheterization is Necessary

    • Conditions that require the use of a catheter in urology include physical injury, medical procedures like surgery that limit a patient's ability to urinate independently, urinary retention, incontinence, benign prostatic hyperplasia or any procedure involving the prostate or the bladder. Medical procedures that involve anesthetizing the lower body will usually require catheterization. Diseases of the neurological or muscular systems may also cause a patient to need a catheter. A Coudé catheter will be used in any instance where something is obstructing a clear passage of the plastic tube through the urethra to the bladder.

    Uses

    • The Coudé catheter can be inserted with or without a balloon (also called an indwelling catheter), which is used to keep the catheter in place inside the body. This particular catheter is recommended in any case where a man's prostate could make insertion difficult. Women tend to have a variety of reasons that the urethra is difficult to pass through, and the size and shape of every woman is different (depending on several factors including childbirth, age, weight and whether genitalia have been modified). A Coudé catheter can be useful to navigate the differences in a woman's urethra.

    Special Use

    • A Foley or Coudé catheter is sometimes used during the induction of labor in women, for the purpose of "ripening" the cervix. A catheter is inserted into the area between the lip of the cervix and the intrauterine membrane, and sterile water is injected to put extra pressure on the cervix and cause the muscle contractions that will pull the cervix open further.

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