What is a catheter

What is a catheter

If you have been to a hospital, then you could hear health professional use the word catheter. So what is a catheter exactly? To define it simply, a catheter is a hollow tube that is inserted to the body with the purpose of removing or delivering fluids. Catheters are mostly made of plastic or rubber materials. Depending on the goal of the medical professionals, a catheter can be applied either for long term or short term use. There are many kinds of catheter, and this article will briefly discuss the common ones.

What Is A Catheter That Is Used On The Bladder?

The term urinary catheter is the answer to the question of what is a catheter for the bladder. This type catheter is commonly inserted to the urethra with the purpose of draining bladder to an bag located externally. Urinary catheters are commonly inserted for people with some kind of urinary dysfunction like urinary incontinence and urinary retention. Urinary catheters are also a standard insertion for patients that must undergo medical procedures or surgeries that will last for long hours. For any medical conditions that also disrupt the control of one's bladder, insertion of catheters are a must. Example of such conditions that can cause bladder control loss are spinal cord injuries and dementia.

What Is A Catheter That Is Used On Veins?

The answer to the question of what is a catheter used on veins is an Intravenous Catheter. This kind of catheter is used to transfer fluids, like liquid based medication, to the body through the veins. However, there are instances that intravenous catheter is used for extracting fluids out of the body. A good example of this is during blood letting where the blood is collected with the help of a catheter, and stored on an external bag. The most common spot for an intravenous catheter would be the hand and forearm.

What Is A Catheter That Is Used For The Heart?

If you are asked what is a catheter that is used for cardiac procedures, the right answer would be cardiac catherization. These special catheter are a great aid in treating and diagnosing various heart related conditions. A typical cardiac catherization procedure means inserting a catheter in one of the major blood vessels, and slowly guiding it until it reaches to the heart. Doctors would gain insights through the visualization of the heart's blood vessels, valves and walls. Helping doctors spot any abnormalities and blockages.

What Is A Catheter That Is Used In The Aid Of Fetal Diagnosis?

Chorionic villus sampling catheter is the answer to the question of what is a catheter that aides in fetal diagnosis. This procedure is typically done by tapping into the placenta to obtain samples that help the doctors in detecting some birth defects while the baby is still in the mother's womb. The procedure may extract amniotic fluid or blood from the baby depending on the doctor's orders.

To recap, What is a catheter? It is a piece of hollow rubber or plastic tube with the purpose of delivering or extracting fluid. Catheters have lots of function such helping diagnosis, and help control the symptoms of certain conditions.