Can normal saline be used to fill the balloon of a Foley catheter? The experience of a prospective randomized study in China.

Background: Despite the lack of evidence, using normal saline for inflating the balloon of a Foley urethral catheter is frequently regarded as a cause for deflation failure. We have investigated the issue by comparing the rate of deflation failure of Foley catheter balloon, using either sterile water or normal saline as the filling solution.

Methods: Four thousand latex Foley urethral catheters (14 Fr) were randomly assigned to one of two groups: sterile water or normal saline.