Bladder Irrigation

[march1986]

I am a C3-4 quad with a suprapubic for almost 26 years. I have been seeing the same urologist for 25 years, but he retired last month. I saw a urologist today for a consult. I get bladder infections frequently and a lot of times after being treated with an antibiotic I will end up with a yeast infection in my bladder. She told me to irrigate my bladder with 2 tsp. of vinegar per gallon of saline. My concern is, she said it doesn't have to be a sterile procedure. Also, she said to clean my leg/night bags with hot water instead of cold. I was always told to use cold so bacteria wouldn't grow.

Any suggestions???

[gjnl]

Originally Posted by march1986

I am a C3-4 quad with a suprapubic for almost 26 years. I have been seeing the same urologist for 25 years, but he retired last month. I saw a urologist today for a consult. I get bladder infections frequently and a lot of times after being treated with an antibiotic I will end up with a yeast infection in my bladder. She told me to irrigate my bladder with 2 tsp. of vinegar per gallon of saline. My concern is, she said it doesn't have to be a sterile procedure. Also, she said to clean my leg/night bags with hot water instead of cold. I was always told to use cold so bacteria wouldn't grow.

Any suggestions???

You haven't been a member of the Care Cure Community very long, so you may not have seen all the information about instilling the bladder with Vetericyn/Microcyn, retaining it in the bladder for a 20-40 minutes and then draining it out. Many members have been using this technology and technique and it has worked wonders in keeping urinary tract infections to a minimum. Here are some threads on this site that you should read and study and then come back with questions.

http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/showthr...yn+open+letter
http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/showthr...wash+vetericyn
http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/showthr...wash+vetericyn
http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/showthr...ericyn+summary

I have had a supra pubic (SPC) for about 20 months and have been using Vetericyn. The only infection I have had was one I got two days after the SPC was placed. Personally, I would not even consider using the vinegar and water solution suggested by your new urologist (of course this is a choice you need to make). But, I think I would consult another urologist or two before I would settle on this one as my permanent urologist.

As for the leg bag and night drain bag...they should be washed with a bleach and hot water solution and rinsed with hot water and allowed to air dry before reuse.

Other things to look at to help curtail infections is stoma care (wash twice a day with mild soap and warm water), frequency of changing the SPC and technique (once a month and sterile technique), and taping the SPC either to your belly and/or leg to prevent the catheter from moving in and out of the stoma (this is called "pistioning").

All the best,
GJ

[Craig80]

A common way of cleaning leg bags is with a 10% bleach solution for half an hour or so, drain and let dry. Dry or not I spray Vetericyn VF down the line to make sure. Vetericyn is also used as a bladder flush by members here to prevent uti's, me included, and is effective against bacteria and fungus, though I found it generally won't cure an established uti it has been useful as a preventative measure. The downside it's expensive. Personally I would prefer injecting Vetericyn into my bladder instead of diluted vinegar.

[gjnl]

Originally Posted by march1986

I am a C3-4 quad with a suprapubic for almost 26 years. I have been seeing the same urologist for 25 years, but he retired last month. I saw a urologist today for a consult. I get bladder infections frequently and a lot of times after being treated with an antibiotic I will end up with a yeast infection in my bladder. She told me to irrigate my bladder with 2 tsp. of vinegar per gallon of saline. My concern is, she said it doesn't have to be a sterile procedure. Also, she said to clean my leg/night bags with hot water instead of cold. I was always told to use cold so bacteria wouldn't grow.

Any suggestions???

I came across this article that I think is good reading for anyone who has or is considering getting a supra pubic catheter.
http://newmobility.com/articleView.cfm?id=11655

All the best,
GJ

[gac3rd]

I had a suprapubic for a few weeks after bladder enlargement surgery about 20 years ago. My vague memory is irrigation with vinegar and saline with no problems. I think bacteria will not grow in the vinegar. If it did, there would be a big problem with storage. It seems like old school advice, but it is certainly less expensive than Vetracyn and you probably have little to lose in giving it a try. Anything beats chronic bladder infections.

Never heard of the cold water preventing bacteria. Does not make sense to me.

You might check the UTI sticky at the very top of the page for other thoughts.

[~Lin]

Vinegar can be used as a disinfectant. I use vinegar to do all of my cleaning around the house, floors counters etc. Vinegar is also great for wood cutting boards to make sure its clean in all the knife scratches. I know nothing about it as an irrigation, but I do know it works as a disinfectant.