Catheter Blockage

Urological stents and catheters often lead to inflammation, causing pain and infection in the urinary tract. Moreover, 80% of stents are associated with pain, negatively impacting on QoL and mental health. Offering novel designs with significantly lower E\&B leads to a reduction in UTIs and improves QoL. Reducing hospital admissions (from 3 to 1 per patient, annually) would free \>100,000 bed-nights, allowing the elderly to regain independence. Our proposed research could have a significant impact towards fulfilling the 'healthy-ageing' Grand Challenge. Additionally, the novel stent reduces prevalence of infections and therefore, of antibiotic prescriptions contributing to the Global AMR challenge.

Objectives: To compare the safety and efficacy of nylon (polyamide) epidural catheter versus polyurethane epidural catheter in patients undergoing major orthopedic surgery under continuous epidural anesthesia. Background: Continuous epidural anesthesia is the most common anesthetic technique used in orthopedic surgery. However, the use of epidural catheters is associated with complications. The insertion of the catheter may be associated with intravascular or intrathecal placement, nerve root irritation, paresthesia, kinking, hematoma, or breakage during catheter removal. Patients and Methods: This was a prospective, randomized, double-blind clinical trial; carried out on 60 patients undergoing major orthopedic surgery under continuous epidural anesthesia. Patients were randomly allocated into two equal groups; group N, using Nylon catheter, and group P, using Polyurethane catheter.