Management of false passages in patients practising clean intermittent self catheterisation

Aim of study: Clean intermittent self catheterisation (CISC) is commonly used by patients with impaired bladder emptying. But how to manage acute false passages in patients on CISC? Methods: Six patients experienced difficulty when performing intermittent catheterisation. Urethrocystoscopy demonstrated a new false passage in all of them. Treatment consisted of urethral stenting with an 14-16F indwelling catheter during 3-6 weeks and antibiotic therapy for 5 days. Results: The false passage disappeared on cystoscopy. During a mean follow up of 10 months (1-28 months), none of these patients developed another false passage. All are practising CISC without any further difficulty. Conclusions: Analysis of our data suggests that temporary urethral stenting and antibiotic therapy are an excellent management in patients on CISC who develop an acute false passage.