An easy method of deflating a blocked Foley balloon

Abstract

Blocked Foley balloons are occasionally encountered by many urological surgeons. A number of methods of removing a blocked balloon catheter have been advocated. They are usually invasive, time and resource consuming and often ineffective. A non-invasive, reliable and safe technique of deflating a blocked catheter balloon by inserting a Glidewire through the balloon channel is reported in the present paper.

Managing blocked foley catheter balloons when removing posterior nasal packs in epistaxis patients

“…There are many solutions in the case of catheter balloons blocked in urinary bladders. Solutions include overdistention of the balloon causing it to burst, transection of the Foley catheter distal to the occlusion, ultrasound‐guided puncture of the balloon, chemical degradation of the balloon, use of a “harpoon” or a guidewire to clear the blockage, and bursting under endoscopic guidance . These methods may be acceptable when dealing with a urinary catheter in the bladder.…”

How to Manage a Urinary Catheter Balloon that will not Deflate

“…In all of the cases the catheter had been divided in an unsuccessful attempt to cause balloon deflation. Utilising a pair of artery forceps to push the Glide wire up the balloon channel as far as it could be, the authors reported a 100% success rate, with balloon deflation usually occurring either immediately or a few minutes after Glidewire removal [6].…”

“…The majority of cited references are case reports or points of technique. There are six in vivo case series reported for methods of removal, and these are indicated in the body of the text [1][2][3][4][5][6]. There are also three in vitro studies prospectively comparing success rates for different methods and rate of free fragment formation [7][8][9].…”

A Novel, Safe Way of Removing Non-Deflatable Bladder Catheter

“…Many methods have been described ranging from over distension of the balloon with water to the instillation of chemical through the balloon channel to more invasive methods using suprapubic, rectal or perineal routes to puncture the catheter balloon [3,4]. Methods using balloon drainage without external pressure with the help of guide-wire or ureteric guide-wire have been used also [5,6]. Different endoscopic methods have also been described [7,8].…”