Cleanser for catheter placement

[mellowman]

A patient needs an Indwelling urinary catheter. What do you use if a patient is allergic to betadine or iodine? Chloraprep? Hibiclens? Good old "soap and water"? Do you have a policy on what to use and may I get your policy on this matter.

Thank you

[HLou_RN]

Working in surgery for 2 years when i came across this i always used hibiclens. In addition our hospital started using Foley kits that included wipes for peri care

[HLou_RN]

To ad to that never use chloraprep on mucous membranes so definitely not the perineum area

[Christy1019, ASN, RN]

I can't remember ever running across hibiclens, ill have to Google it. But if I don't have hibiclens, what else should you use?

[Anna Flaxis, BSN, RN]

The "iodine allergy" is a bit of a myth. Simply because a person states an allergy to iodine does not automatically mean that they will have an adverse reaction to the iodine used to prep for foley insertion. In fact, iodine allergies are really questionable since iodine is in your body and is necessary to maintain life.

At any rate, if a person has a known sensitivity to topical iodine, I use the little castile soap packets that come in the foley trays these days.

[THELIVINGWORST, ASN, RN]

I think the allergy has more to do with the solution of iodine and not the element of iodide.

[sandyfeet]

The "iodine allergy" is a bit of a myth. Simply because a person states an allergy to iodine does not automatically mean that they will have an adverse reaction to the iodine used to prep for foley insertion. In fact, iodine allergies are really questionable since iodine is in your body and is necessary to maintain life.

So interesting! After I read your post, I used my school access to look up "iodine allergy" and found an article from the journal Allergy and Asthma Proceedings that talked about iodine allergy and the prevalence of iodine in our diet (salt, eggs, bread, cheese). The point of the article was to debunk the seafood/iodine connection, and that patients with allergies to seafood could still use iodinated contrast medium. ("Seafood and iodine: An analysis of a medical myth", Nov-Dec 2005). I remember when I started working as a nurse being taught to ask if the patient had a seafood allergy if they did not know if they had an iodine allergy.

And for the OP, I would also use the castile soap packet.