Balloon catheter

A Balloon catheter is a catheter made of plastic. The name goes back to the tip of the catheter, which carries an occlusion balloon that can be inflated with liquid or compressed air.

What is a balloon catheter?

Balloon catheters are diverse and can be used in different types in medicine. Angioplasty uses the balloon catheter to expand narrowed blood vessels. The urinary bladder is catheterized with a blockable urinary catheter. It is also possible to block the bronchial tubes by dilation, to widen leg vessels or to treat tumors with a balloon catheter.

Catheters are offered in a wide variety of products and in different classifications.

Shapes, types & types

The thin, tubular and flexible plastic instruments have become indispensable in medicine. They can be used in different areas. They are used to diagnose diseases, catheterize the urinary bladder, dilate blood vessels, and clear up other disorders.

Various clinical pictures can require the placement of a catheter, which is why they are an indispensable diagnostic and working tool in everyday medical practice. Balloon catheters are used in urology, pain therapy, internal medicine, radiology and neurology. The most common types of catheters are venous catheters, urinary catheters, and cardiac catheters.

The use of a catheter requires a hygienic way of working; the environment must be sterile in order to avoid infections caused by bacteria. A urinary catheter is connected to the urinary bladder through the urethra or the abdominal wall in order to drain the escaping urine into a bag.

Catheters can be used for diagnosis and for short-term or long-term treatment. In short-term treatment, patients who have problems with urinary behavior due to an injury are given a urinary catheter. In long-term treatment, urinary catheters are mainly used in the care sector when patients are bedridden or are unable to independently control their urge to urinate due to an acute illness. A urinary catheter is a plastic tube made of PVC, polyurethane, latex or silicone.

Catheters are differentiated according to purpose and differently shaped tips. This is where the name comes from, like "Nelaton" or "Foley". The catheter size is measured in centimeters, the thickness is given in "Charrière". Depending on how many integrated tubes a catheter has, it is a 2-way or 3-way catheter. They are either attached to the bladder to stay there for a long time or to flush it.

Balloon catheters are transurethal permanent catheters, because for diagnostic purposes or for single use catheters are used that do not have a balloon-shaped tip and therefore cannot be blocked and are designed for permanent indwelling. They are only used for voiding disorders of the bladder or neurogenic disorders.

Balloon catheters can be blocked by their balloon-shaped tip, as they are used for permanent retention in the bladder for the treatment of long-term illnesses or for patients in need of care who cannot go to the toilet independently.

Structure & functionality

Transurethal indwelling catheters in balloon form are mostly used as 2- or 3-way catheters. A medical solution is injected through the second tube into the bulge of the catheter tip, which opens it like a balloon and thus releases the blockage so that the tip does not slip out of the bladder. If a third tube is available, the bladder can be flushed with the liquid introduced. Urinary catheters made of silicone are suitable for use for up to six weeks. Latex balloon catheters should not be used for more than a week.

The approach is similar to the principle of single-use catheters through the abdominal wall or urethra. A lubricant and local anesthetic are used at the insertion site to facilitate insertion. In the event of injuries to the urethra, a rupture of the urethra, a narrowing of the urethra, an infection of the prostate or other nearby organs, doctors do not use catheterization.

In the field of cardiac surgery, drug-coated or drug-releasing catheters are used to prevent blood vessels from narrowing again. These balloon catheters are a further development of the classic balloon catheter systems that are used for blocking in order to prevent them from slipping out again at the catheterized site.

Balloon catheters not only open narrowed blood vessels, but also prevent them from closing again. The tip of the balloon catheter is prepared with a drug that specifically prevents tissue growth at the treated area when the catheter is inserted. This way the blood vessel cannot narrow again.

In contrast to the use of stents, balloon occlusion has the advantage that no foreign body remains in the treated vessel after the treatment, since the coated balloon catheter is removed again after the drug has been introduced. It is then not necessary to take anti-platelet medication.

Balloon catheters are also used in radiology to specifically prevent tumor growth at the catheterized site with the active ingredient paclitaxel. Balloon catheters are also used to widen narrowed leg arteries. Drugs are preferably introduced into mechanically agitated vessel sections, such as the arteries in the hollow of the knee.

Medical & health benefits

Balloon catheters have a wide variety of medical uses. They simplify the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and thereby make life easier for patients with long-term use.

The most important balloon catheters are urinary catheters for draining urine from long-term ill patients in need of care, cardiac catheters for widening coronary arteries with a stent, catheters for widening narrowed vascular segments in the legs, and catheters in radiology for the targeted treatment of tumor diseases and the destruction of tumor tissue.

Since treatment with a balloon catheter is not an option for all patients, for example in the case of injuries to the urinary bladder or bacterial infections in nearby organs, the doctor decides which treatment is most suitable, depending on the type of disease.