Intermittent catheterization in neurogenic bladder dysfunction.

Experience with intermittent catheterization in 449 patients with traumatic cord bladder during a 9-year period is presented. There were 317 patients who were discharged from the hospital free of the catheter and maintain balanced bladder function on long-term followup. Of these catheter-free patients 45 per cent have sterile urine at any one time. Intermittent catheterization is the method of choice to establish a catheter-free state and reduce infection among spinal cord injury patients. It is a useful conservative method in long-term therapy of patients with non-traumatic neurogenic bladder dysfunction.