have seen nurse training video on subject where patient is emitting both sounds of pain and facial expressions certainly indicate same. the nurse inserting the catheter tells him 4-5 times “i’m sorry, i know this hurts” and he is literally screaming when the catheter reaches his prostate. i would like to know also why this procedure is done without benefit of any sedation or anasthesia?
Free Brochures

Nursing Search
Question Categories
Nursing Advice
yeah, it sucks, my brother had one.
I’m sure it hurts but you’ll live, be a man about it, at least your not pushing out a human head
usually a gel is used to numb the tip of the penis. It shouldn’t be painful if the correct size of catheter is used for the individual. If a double catheter is required (after a TURP operation) then that is more difficult to pass and is uncomfortable for the patient.
No training video would be as you state, once again I see a hint of hoax question. Second of all a patient with an enlarged prostate would be more uncomfortable than a patient without. Normally this is not a painful procedure, an often disliked one but shouldn’t be painful. Since it is not a painful procedure and takes a brief amount of time obviously no anesthetic is required.
Yeah , i used to work in the ER, we always had like drug over dose, and liqure poisen all the time, and I had to help put the catheder in, and it looked way painful.. the guys that were away freaked
it is painful, but not extreemly so . scale of 1 to 10 , 10 being the most , maybe a 4 and it does not last but a few seconds
No, it feels like roses in springtime….. I don’t know why they do it with no anasthetic…. Maybe the guy didn’t have insurance. Anasthesiologists are expensive.
because it’s not worth the risk nor cost of sedation and anesthesia.
It’s a very routine, and complication-free (relatively) procedure. Probably 20-25% of all hospital admitted patients receive urinary catheterization. The resources, costs, and damage caused from sedating all those patients would be astronomical.
Yes, it’s uncomfortable and it hurts–but when you need one, not everything is roses, and sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.
No it does not hurt. I’ve had it done twice and there was no pain associated with either. It would be a real surprise, and I guess very painful, if the catheter actually reach the prostate – seeing that it’s on the outside of the urethra! Of course, if it’s left there for a long time your muscles that control your urine flow will not function much until they are retrained.
Urinary catherters are not necessary painful, they may be a little discomforting though, you can use a lidocaine jelly as a lubercant; this will numb it up a little. If the prostrate is enlarged it will require some pushing to get it past the inflammation.
I have catheterized quite a few people in my career as a nurse and I’ve never had one screaming in pain. I’ve also been catheterized and it was uncomfortable, but not painful like you’re describing. I think men are sometimes ‘babies’ when it comes to their penis. You can encourage someone to relax and take deep breaths instead of saying how sorry you are. I would also point out that the man had prostate problems which make the urethra narrow from the swelling of the gland. Why take a chance on giving someone anesthesia when it the procedure is minor? Its not worth the risk. That’s a lousy training video if you ask me!
anasthesia and sedation can be done but not just for inserting a catheter. It does hurt but it’s not as painful a procedure as having to be sedated. Also, if a patient is sedated, they cannot respond to questions asked by the nurse, furthermore, having a catheter inserted can take seconds, and sedation will last a long time, it’s not worth the duration of sedation for a small process like catheterization
it causes trauma to the tissues if it’s not properly inserted… we usually put ky jelly or any water-based lubricant on the tip of the cathether before insertion. once we see urine flowing or present in the tube we stop pushing it in.. moreover we make sure to insert to use the proper cathether size and the penis must not be erect (we use ice packs to prevent erection…
Hello, yes it is painful if your catheterized without a sedation. During surgery they often perform this procedure to keep your bladder drained. People that are paralyzed need to use this procedure because of their inability to physically open and close their bladders on their own. Of course there isn’t any pain because they do not have any feelings.
its not really that painful, the word is uncomfortable.