Practical guidelines for the correct use of urinary catheter in children

Key words: Catheterism, Urinary catheter, Paediatrics, Urgency

Urinary catheters are invasive devices, frequently employed in hospitals and nursing home settings to maintain urine output in patients, both for diagnostic and therapeutic aspects. There are many Guidelines concerning their use and application in adults, but specific indications for children are not actually available. The aim of the present paper is to identify medical recommendations to understand better how, when and why to use them, in order to help paediatricians in their prescription and nurses in their positioning. Moreover, two clinical final case reports show the possible onset of complications due to their invasive positioning procedure. However, risks are not enough to restrict their use when necessary.