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This forum is for Health Care Professionals including student nurses, junior doctors and adult nurses.

Can anyone help repeated bypassing catheter issue?

6 replies

OriginalBore · 02/04/2023 14:37

My father has had three operations on his urethra at two different hospitals over the space of 2 years. Each time he is left with soaking wet dressings because he bypasses his catheter. No doctor or nurse has addressed the issue before they send him home. He also constantly feels like he needs a wee and they sont even give him anti spasmodics to help. On two occasions he has had to remove the catheter himself at home. The first time he had a skin graft on his penis which ofcourse failed due to being soaked in urine constantly. This time (2 days ago) he has removed it himself again and the nurse on the phone is treating him.like he is a difficult patient. The hospital is Southampton, he lives 2 hours away and he was expected to travel there with soaking wet leaking catheter just to have it removed 3 days after the op. The operation was UCL London and they discharged him to travel on public transport with it bypassing.

He needs further operations but has now decided he will never go back to any hospital because they will not listen to him.

OP posts:
OriginalBore · 02/04/2023 14:41

To be clear the first two ops last year were at Bristol. The after care was so horrendous that this time (with return of penile cancer) he insisted on being referred somewhere else, Southampton. However it seems that the inability to send him home with a non-bypassing catheter and spasmodic bladder is not a specific hospital issue, it is general!

He is now saying he would rather just let the cancer kill him than go back to have any more operations and keep being ignored and left soaked in urine at home.

OP posts:
MoserRothOrangeandAlmond · 02/04/2023 17:22

Why won't they give him any antispasmodics?

Unfortunately bypassing catheter is very common, every time there's intervention with a catheter there's a possibility for it to bypass for the next 24-48hours due to bladder spasms.

If it becomes a big problem and antispasmodics don't work some people have Botox in their bladder.

OriginalBore · 02/04/2023 17:39

I dont know why they didnt give him anti spasmodics. Oversight? He is not very good at speaking up for himself when staying in hospital. He will tell them if something is wrong but he will not keep reminding them to help him.

He explained to all medical staff before the op that he cannot tolerate the spasms and constant soaked dressings.

OP posts:
MoserRothOrangeandAlmond · 03/04/2023 09:54

Antispasmodics don't work straight away and having any intervention causes bladder spasms so maybe they were thinking along those lines.
Does the bypassing settle down after a couple of days?

MoserRothOrangeandAlmond · 03/04/2023 09:54

Have they discussed a suprapubic catheter long term?

OriginalBore · 03/04/2023 10:19

MoserRothOrangeandAlmond · 03/04/2023 09:54

Antispasmodics don't work straight away and having any intervention causes bladder spasms so maybe they were thinking along those lines.
Does the bypassing settle down after a couple of days?

No it does not settle down. First operation he was left for over a week at home with urine soaked stitched-in dressing before he could get through to anyone who could help him. They then removed the dressing and catheter. The skin graft had died and fallen off. Same with 2nd op.

He doesn't need a long term catheter.

OP posts:
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