Indwelling urethral catheter and method

A method for implanting an indwelling urethral catheter in a male patient comprising the steps of:

• determining the length of the patient's urethral tract from his bladder to his penile meatus;
• inserting a urethral catheter into the urethra of the male patient with the proximal end of the catheter inwardly spaced from the penile meatus of the patient, said urethral catheter including an inflation member having a compliant wall forming an inflation lumen extending along a portion of said catheter in said urethra;
• inserting a fluid in said inflation lumen for inflating said compliant wall against the wall of the patient's urethra downstream of the patient's prostatic urethra to thereby hold the catheter in position;
• and
• removing all exterior support items from said urethra and leaving nothing extending beyond the penile meatus.

An indwelling urethral catheter comprising:

• a catheter drainage shaft defining an enclosed drainage canal, said catheter drainage shaft to extend through a urethra and having distal and proximal ends;
• an anchoring means attached to said catheter drainage shaft near said distal end thereof for anchoring and holding said shaft in position in said urethra near the distal end;
• a sleeve surrounding a portion of said catheter drainage shaft and being attached thereto by an attachment means at a position downstream from said anchoring means, said attachment means being actuatable to release said catheter drainage shaft upon said catheter drainage shaft being anchored in position by the anchoring means near the distal end so that said sleeve can be thereby removed from the penile meatus;
• wherein said anchoring means includes a balloon for expanding in the bladder of the patient in which the catheter is implanted and wherein said attachment means is a frangible material which is easily torn by traction-type stress.