Soreness from catheter

Hi Wife75

Welcome to the Online Community here at Macmillan. I hope you find it a helpful place to access support and ask questions. My name is Vanessa and I am one of the information nurses. 

I’m sorry to hear your husband’s catheter is uncomfortable.

As I’m sure you know as part of a radical prostatectomy a urinary catheter is inserted. This allows urine to drain from the bladder whilst the area heals. The length of time a catheter is left in place does range between 1 and 3 weeks.

Some soreness and discomfort is normal but this should gradually improve. Its difficult to say how long this will last as it varies between individuals but if your husband is finding the discomfort distressing, you feel its not improving or is increasing we would always advise that you speak directly to a member of the hospital team treating your husband and they will give further advice based on your husbands own clinical situation.

If you cannot reach your husbands hospital team you could also contact his GP or out of hours 111.

We do not have access to NHS records and can therefore give general information about this issue which may be helpful to you both.

There are several reasons why a catheter may continue to be uncomfortable, and I will work through these for you.

Care of the catheter can help promote comfort. I have linked some information here, but key points are:

• Ensure the catheter drainage bag is well supported and not pulling on your husband. Straps are normally provided to secure the bag to the leg and stands for use with night bags. The catheter tubing should be relaxed rather than pulled taut.
• The catheter tubing should not be restricted so there should be no kinks or compression on it
• Ensuring the catheter bag is lower than the level of the bladder will help promote drainage.

There is a risk of infection when a catheter is in place- signs and symptoms of this are included in the information linked above. If you suspect an infection, please contact the hospital team caring for your husband and they will advise further.

Also, just to mention that after this type of surgery men can have swelling around the testicles and penis this can cause discomfort but should settle within a few weeks. If your husband is very swollen or the swelling is getting worse, then he needs to contact his treatment team for further advice.

I hope you find this information helpful. You can also always call one of our nurses directly if you want to talk over your concerns or require any further support.

Take care

Vanessa G, Cancer Information Nurse Specialist 

Ref: VG/HB

You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email.