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Question regarding french-sizing of catheters ...

Post a new topicby vkngsxgd8 on Thu Sep 27, 2007 11:32 am


I am the surgicals-manager at a busy, independantly owned pharmacy, and we dispense a lot of catheters, mostly to our geriatric clientele, due to swollen prostates, etc, and my question is this ... how is french-sizing determined, is there a urethral gauge the urologist uses to determine what catheter size to prescribe ? And secondly, does a large urethra necessarily mean a larger than average penis also ? I would imagine they correspond, and the only reason I ask is I have 2 gentlemen who get catheters here, one is 28fr, the other needed a 32fr ... now, I am not small myself in that dept, but when I look at these size catheters, and knowing where they are going, I just want to say "OUCH". Does the urethra stretch to accomodate them any, or are these gentlemen just 'well-hung' ?

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Re: Question regarding french-sizing of catheters ...

Post a new topicby UroDoc on Sat Sep 29, 2007 7:32 am

The urethra can stretch. Usually the size chosen has to do with the underlying problem. Usually larger sizes are used in case where blood is expected since the small diameter of 16 or 18 Fr tubes can be blocked by clot or sediment. You will also notice that the eyelets at the end of foleys usually above 22 fr are offset this is also to help prevent blockage. Just as in shoes size there is no correlation between foley and penile size.

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