clamp the foley

Nurses General Nursing

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Dear nurses,

I work in France right now and I have a question: here it is common practice to clamp the Foley for 2 hours before the patient has a CT scan . I had a patient who was on continuos bladder irrigation for hematuria. Can you still clamp the Foley for 2 hours while doing this? is there any downside?

thanks a lot, Mihaela

Specializes in ER, Med-surg.

I would not clamp the foley of a patient undergoing CBI for two hours, the risk of a patient with hematuria forming significant clots in that time is high.

All the documentation for foley clamping prior to CT I can find suggests thirty minutes, but it has not been standard protocol anywhere I've worked. If clamping for two hours is considered standard at your facility, I would seek clarification from the ordering doctor- they will most likely tell you to continue the CBI, but either way, you will have a clear order.

Thank you so much, Emmy 27

Specializes in Critical Care.

I'm missing something....why would you clamp the foley prior to the scan?

Specializes in MICU, SICU, CICU.

Clamping the foley prior to an ultrasound to view the pelvis might be appropriate.

A Ct scan, never.

Clamping a CBI drainage catheter for a Ct scan is insane as it could result in a ruptured bladder. No no no.

Beware of radiology people who operate outside of your hospital's policies and want to play with the

ETT and have respiratory hyperinflate the lungs and play with other tubes and devices. It happens and you need to yell for help and order him to step away from your patient.

I would print that CT policy and notify the MD, especially the Urologist, write an incident report and make a whole lot of noise.

Thank you, but here it is indeed common policy to clamp the Foley before a CT scan, which I don't understand either . The problem is that the Urologist is not answering his pages - don't come for

health care in France , ever!!!

Mihaela

Specializes in Trauma Surgery.

My question is why would one want to clamp a foley for a CT scan? As a former urology nurse, heck no you do not want to clamp the cbi. With all thay fluid running into the bladder, where else would it go? I would be worried about rupturing the bladder, especially on how fast you run it. Also, with cbis you're trying to prevent or minimize the risk for a blood clot so clamping it off does the opposite! If you do it, you will not have a very happy urologist!

Thanks a lot

thanks a lot

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