CatheterOut is becoming... BladderSafe!
As our research advances best practices in urinary catheter management, we continue to update the resources we provide to the healthcare community. As part of our current update to CatheterOut, we are rebranding this website to BladderSafe to indicate our shift away from focusing only on catheter-related safety issues towards helping clinicians more holistically address urinary management of hospitalized patients. This shift begins with the release of our new BladderSafe mobile app!
BladderSafe Mobile App
This app is a practical and evidence-based tool to help clinicians decide when to use or avoid common urinary management devices (indwelling urinary catheters, intermittent straight catheters, external urinary catheters, or catheter alternatives). This guidance is for adult patients who are receiving care for either common medical conditions or common surgical procedures:
- The guidelines for common medical conditions identify patients for whom indwelling urinary catheter use is appropriate, taking into account patient-specific challenges, and providing guidance on when alternatives such as external urinary catheters are recommended.
- The guidelines for common surgical procedures are based on type of procedure, duration of procedure, intraoperative fluid volume, and approach (i.e., open vs. laparoscopic) for patients without another indication for indwelling urinary catheter use.
For all procedures, using a postoperative protocol to monitor and address urinary retention symptoms is recommended. Specifically, bladder scanners are recommended to verify retention in symptomatic patients to avoid unnecessary catheterizations.
This tool was developed by researchers from the University of Michigan/VA Ann Arbor Patient Safety Enhancement Program. Guidance provided is based primarily on the published and peer-reviewed Ann Arbor Criteria and Michigan Appropriate Perioperative Criteria for use of urinary catheters.
Apple Store and Apple Store logo are trademarks of Apple Inc. Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.