08/29/2021
Why a catheter urinalysis?
When patients come to the clinic, we always get a urine sample prior to seeing the provider. The urine gives us a lot of information about your visit including infection, risk of cancer, kidney disease, moving kidney stones, etc. Where men and women differ is that we get a catheter urine sample from women…Why?!
Have you ever done a urine dipstick at your primary care providers office or with an “at home” kit? When the urine sample shows bacteria on a dip stick test (like you can buy at Walmart), the bacteria may or may not actually be present. Did you know that AZO can show as positive bacteria on a dipstick? Similarly, if the urine touches the l***a prior to making it in the sample, staphylococcus (normal skin flora) can make it into the sample and also read as bacteria. The catheter sample is used for accuracy and for culture use.
Does a catheter sample hurt? It shouldn’t! Our nurses are trained to provide comfort and ease of catheterization. We use a very very small catheter to get the sample in an effort that the patient won’t feel it at all. In fact, most of our patients tell us they were anxious about the catheter but that it didn’t hurt at all.
What should men do if they need to give a sample? If a man is uncircumcised, the should retract the fo****in, clean the meatus, and give a sample. If a man is circumcised, he just needs to clean the meatus. Men do not get catheterized because they are able to give a sample without the risk of contamination.
