[Evaluation of the irrigation and drainage capacity of 3 bladder irrigation catheters].

Objectives: To perform a comparative evaluation of three types of continuous bladder irrigation catheters with the aim of determining which of them allows greater irrigation solution inflow and bladder outflow.

Methods: We compared three types of three-way catheters, 22F in caliber, being the material the main difference between them: latex, silicone, or polyvinyl.

Results: The polyvinyl catheter showed significant differences both in inflow and outflow in comparison with the other two types of catheters (p = 0.000, ANOVA test with Sheffe's post hoc). Additionally, the latex catheter showed a significant outflow decrease with the insufflation of the self retentive balloon.

Conclusions: The polyvinyl catheter, due to material rigidity, is the one that allows better bladder irrigation.