Diane Newman: Welcome. I’m Diane Newman. I’m a urology nurse practitioner. I specialize in pelvic floor dysfunction, so I see patients with incontinence, overactive bladder, pelvic floor muscle weakness, but I also see a large population of patients who have voiding dysfunction, in the sense that they cannot empty their bladder. They may have urinary retention or what we call incomplete bladder emptying, and they need to catheterize themselves. It’s called intermittent self-catheterization. This is a growing population around the world, and we have patients who have been doing this for years, up to 20, 25 years.
I wanted to do this series on the current technology in intermittent catheters to educate both clinicians and patients on the variety that we have, because patients should be individualized when we prescribe these. UroToday has a resource center on catheterization, both indwelling and intermittent catheterization. It was developed for both clinicians and patients, so there’s additional information if you would like to access and find out about different components of catheterization. But today I have with me today Belinda Coyle, who’s from Coloplast. Coloplast is a catheter company that has a variety of catheters. I asked her here today, and I wanted her to go over her products of intermittent catheterization products, as well as external. That’s actually going to be a new resource center that we’re going to put up within the next 6 months. So, tell us a little bit about your products here.
Belinda Coyle: Okay.
Diane Newman: But first, talk about your background. What are you doing at Coloplast?
Belinda Coyle: All right. So, I’ve been with Coloplast for a little over five years, where I am a senior territory manager and field sales trainer for the continence care division. Prior to coming on to Coloplast, I worked as a nurse in the hospital, primarily taking care of spinal cord injury patients. So, I’ve been a nurse for 17 years. I still keep that up and teach on the side. I love to share the awesome products that we have at Coloplast.
Diane Newman: Yeah. So, that is a big population, spinal cord injury, who have to do self-catheterization. Depending on the injury and the disabilities they have maybe with their hands, you really need to have products that help that population. So, I’m very excited for you to show some of what you have here.
Belinda Coyle: Yeah. I’d be happy to do that. So, we will start with our standard SpeediCath.
Diane Newman: Now, this is a fantastic products that’s been around for many years now. Huh?
Belinda Coyle: Yes. We developed-
Diane Newman: It’s one of the original hydrophilic catheters.
Belinda Coyle: It was actually the first ready-to-use, hydrophilic catheter on the market. In 2003 is when this came to market in the United States. So, very happy to have this one. It’s a great product. So, you’ll see with all of our products today that we really pride ourselves on discrete packaging, because we know that a lot of these patients are doing the catheterizations out in the community, and they’re back to school, back to work, and they don’t want people to know. This is a very intimate thing that they’re dealing with, so the more discrete that we can make these products, the more compliant the patient typically is.
Diane Newman:They really want to normalize their lives, don’t they?
Belinda Coyle: Yes.
Diane Newman: The point is that whatever … which companies have done, and Coloplast has done a great job at this, is trying to make products that are discrete, that could be used anymore. One thing I want to mention is that Coloplast is a global company, and you really do service all over the world.
Belinda Coyle: Yup. Absolutely. I will demonstrate. The SpeediCath standard is a hydrophilic catheter, which of course means that it loves water. So, it does have a unique coating on it that’s covalently bonded to the catheter. That causes a smooth insertion and withdrawal, which in turn causes less friction to the urethra. So, with the SpeediCath it has this foil packaging. You’re going to open down. This one is a pediatric length, so it’s 10 inch. There is a sticky tab on the back. It can be stuck to-
Diane Newman: That’s very convenient. Huh? So, really wherever they are they can put it, so they don’t have to worry about holding it in their hand.
Belinda Coyle: Right. So, more hands free. So, you have the catheter here. It’s very slick.
Diane Newman: Yeah. So, that’s really nice and smooth though. And this is a really important point is you want it smooth as it passes through the urethra.
Belinda Coyle: That’s right.
Diane Newman: Because that decreases trauma. That’s actually one of the biggest benefits of hydrophilic, especially in patients who are catheterizing long term. I mean, patients are catheterizing four to six times a day, right, many, many years. You were practicing in spinal cord injury before, so you saw patients living for years catheterizing.
Belinda Coyle: Yeah. If a patient’s catheterizing four times a day for 26 years, 38,000 times on average they’re catheterizing in their life. That’s a ton. So, we want to make sure that they’re doing that with a great product that’s going to cause the least trauma to them.
Diane Newman: So, that’s the SpeediCath, and that’s a very nice-
Belinda Coyle:Yeah. All of our SpeediCath line does have the covalently bonded, hydrophilic coating, so it does not slough off when you insert or withdraw.
Diane Newman: And you don’t have to activate it with water or anything?
Belinda Coyle: No.
Diane Newman: It’s ready-to-use as you take it out of the product.
Belinda Coyle: Yes. Truly ready-to-use. All of our SpeediCath products sit in its own water source, so it’s a sterile saline solution, and again, you don’t have to break anything. It’s truly ready-to-use.
Diane Newman: I see here you have a shorter one also.
Belinda Coyle: Yes.
Diane Newman: This is for women?
Belinda Coyle: Yup. So, that one is the six inch one. So, again, you would open it the same way. There’s a loop here on the outside, in case of dexterity issues. I’m going to open it this way. You still have the sticky tab on the back, and then pull the catheter out.
Diane Newman: Yeah. Women, these are much nicer. That’s a nice grip there too because you don’t want it to fall. Actually, with those little ridges there that help with holding it then, as far as catheterizing. Right?
Belinda Coyle: Yes.
Diane Newman: That’s really nice. Those are nice.
Belinda Coyle: Yeah. Thanks.
Diane Newman: Tell us. Now, this one, I always call it the lipstick. This is really very convenient for those that are working. You can put it right in your purse. Right?
Belinda Coyle:: Absolutely. This one obviously is very discrete, easy to carry, convenient, ready-to-use. So, I can tell you, honestly, if I had to catheterize myself, this is the product that I would choose.
Diane Newman: So, it’s specific for women.
Belinda Coyle: Yes.
Diane Newman: You want to take that out, because what’s important about it is us women really have very short urethras, and this is perfect.
Belinda Coyle: So, we’re going to twist to open, pull the catheter up and out, and then you have the catheter here that’s hydrated. Then the urine would come out the bottom.
Diane Newman: That’s nice. Easy. Then you just put it back and discard. Yeah. That, as far as being discrete, I mean, you have this really in your purse. Wow. It’s nothing. I know. So, this is for women.
Belinda Coyle: That one’s a great product.
Diane Newman: Now, you have … I always call this a glow stick, but I know that … Talk about these two different products.
Belinda Coyle: We have some people call it a toothbrush holder.
Diane Newman: Toothbrush. Well, that’s another example. Tell us about these products.
Belinda Coyle: Okay. So, this one is for the female population. This is for male population typically. Sometimes the females will use a longer catheter, but … So, this is the SpeediCath Compact Set Male. This is a telescoping catheter that extends from a 12 French to an 18 French at the largest point. So, I’m going to twist to open.
Diane Newman: And I see it has a bag at the end.
Belinda Coyle: It does.
Diane Newman: That’s very nice, as far as travel. You know, what’s important about this is I recommend different catheters depending on what the patient, female or male patient’s doing. They may need something like this for a vacation, they got to work, whereas at home they may use a different thing, like say maybe this catheter. You have a variety for different situations, which I think is really commendable.
Belinda Coyle: We really do have a full portfolio of catheters at Coloplast, which makes it a lot easier to market. This catheter in particular I love to recommend for wheelchair users, because it is a lot more convenient with the bag being attached. It’s easier to manipulate for those with lower dexterity.
Diane Newman: How many milliliters does this hold?
Belinda Coyle: This bag holds 750 milliliters.
Diane Newman: Wow. It’s very good then. That’s really nice that this holds 700 mLs, but remember, when you catheterize, you cannot go above 500 mLs. Right? We recommend that you catheterize based on your output, but the frequency should be based on how much urine you’re putting out, and it should be at least 400 mLs. Do not go above that. If that means you have to catheterize six times a day because of your intake, then that means you have to, but it’s very important to remember that. If you keep those volumes low, you will not develop urinary tract infections. You will not distend that bladder, and you will not have any urine refluxing back up into the upper tracts or the kidneys. So, tell us about this. I saw you open that, and then you just-
Belinda Coyle: So, open this. The bag’s out. It has a little arrow here. We’re going to twist this open and pull the catheter out. You see it telescopes.
Diane Newman: So, that’s really good for male patients. Huh? It’s a smaller French size. What did you say on the-
Belinda Coyle: So, 12 French up to 18.
Diane Newman: 18 French. Really?
Belinda Coyle: Mm-hmm.
Diane Newman: And there’s no issue as far as it passing? What do patients say with this?
Belinda Coyle: The transition piece is about a 14 French. At least to my knowledge, we don’t get complaints of any pain or anything like that with the transition piece. It does have a locking mechanism to where it does not collapse on itself, which is nice.
Diane Newman: And the coating is the same, your same hydrophilic?
Belinda Coyle: The coating is the same.
Diane Newman: That’s a nice one. I have male patients who really love this catheter.
Belinda Coyle: Yeah. It’s great. Also, with our SpeediCath line we do have fire-polished eyelets that are also hydrophilic, which, again, is smoother for insertion and withdrawal.
Diane Newman: Yeah. One thing that she brought up here is the fact that you want the eyelets to be smooth, because any kind of roughness is going to catch on that urethra, causing some scarring, or some bleeding, or whatever. That’s nice. Now, what is with this smaller one though? Is that a similar type of catheter?
Belinda Coyle: So, the smaller one would be more for a female who would use a smaller catheter, because our urethras are shorter, of course. So, again, same technology with the bag.
Diane Newman: You have the bag at the end.
Belinda Coyle: It still holds 750 mLs. You’re going to twist to open. Again, there’s water in this chamber, because it is truly ready-to-use. You’re going to twist to open, and then you have your catheter.
Diane Newman: Oh. That’s a nice catheter.
Belinda Coyle: Yeah. So, that catheter is 3.5 centimeters.
Diane Newman: The French, I’m sorry, again, is a-
Belinda Coyle: These come in 10, 12, 14, and this one is a 14.
Diane Newman: This is a nice catheter. Again, I’m really into the fact of gripping, because really with decreased dexterity with aging, with the injury that they might have. This is a nice one they can very easily catheterize. The thing that also I think we should show is the fact that we talk about the smoothness of the catheter and that, especially this is of course a male urethra. The curves are such that you want to not butt up against say the prostate and that. So, when passing it, you want that coating to be smooth and as easy and the least trauma as possible when catheterizing. Now the other thing that I know Coloplast is known for is their bags. Maybe talk to us first about this one. You know, this is a fairly new product for you.
Belinda Coyle: This is a very new product.
Diane Newman: Patients, once you introduced this, really, really prefer this product, so I want you to show that.
Belinda Coyle: Yes. So, this is our SpeediCath Flex Coudé Pro, which launched in 2018, so it’s extremely new. This is a Coudé product, so it does have a curved tip to bypass those structures in the male anatomy.
Diane Newman: Yeah. The Coudé tip is such that it gets through the curves really basically. We use that, Coudé tips, a lot with male patients.
Belinda Coyle: Yes. So, we have a sticky tab on the back here. There is the loop here in the front that would help with dexterity issues. So, I’m going to peel this back, and I’m just going to stick it here. Then when we pull the product out, again, you saw the color of the packaging is discrete. It’s pretty quiet to open. You have the catheter that looks kind of like a necklace almost. It does have-
Diane Newman: A glow stick necklace.
Belinda Coyle: A glow stick necklace. It does have a dry-sleeve over the top of it, and you notice that it has water on the inside of that. That water is-
Diane Newman: This is for no touch. Right?
Belinda Coyle: Yes.
Diane Newman: We’re not touching the catheter until you catheterize.
Belinda Coyle:That’s right. So, I can drop it on the floor, and it’s still sterile.
Diane Newman: Yeah. That’s a really good point.
Belinda Coyle: Yeah. We have the twist open here. What I’m going to do is I’m going to empty this water out first, because that’s just hydrating the catheter. We don’t need it anymore. So, ideally you would do this in a sink or a toilet, if it were the patient.
Diane Newman: Or in that package. I mean, I could see-
Belinda Coyle: Or in this package.
Diane Newman: … if you have that stuck there to the wall or whatever or to the toilet.
Belinda Coyle:That’s right.
Diane Newman: Then let’s look at that Coudé tip now.
Belinda Coyle: So, it is a curved tip. That is also flexible, so it’s bendable and can bypass those structures in the male anatomy.
Diane Newman: Yeah. That’s a nice Coudé.
Belinda Coyle: It does have a ball on the tip of it that also helps to glide through the urethra and kind of find its path up to the bladder. Again, the fire-polished eyelets that are hydrophilic coated, and then the same hydrophilic coating that’s on the rest of the SpeediCath line. So, you have all of the advantages of the SpeediCath and the no touch dry-sleeve over the top.
Diane Newman: So, as you pass this catheter then, the sleeve, it’s very thin. No kind of issue as far as just retracting back. Right? This is a nice catheter.
Belinda Coyle: So, if I were to teach a patient, for instance, with this catheter, I’m going to actually insert the tip here, and this soft grip would be held against the anatomy, and then we’re going to do kind of an inch and pinch method up into the bladder.
Diane Newman: That’s nice. That’s nice.
Belinda Coyle: So, very easily to bypass. Another nice feature of this one is once they’ve emptied and they pull the catheter back, you can twist it up and throw it away.
Diane Newman: And put it right back in the package and throw it away.
Belinda Coyle: Put it in the package, put it in your pocket, because we know that most men do not have trashcans in public restrooms, like women.
Diane Newman: Yeah. That’s true, like women do.
Belinda Coyle: Yeah. So, this is a really nice feature of this project.
Diane Newman: You know, one of the thing that’s important is the discreteness of this, and that’s really I think what you’ve really excelled at. Now, you have a lot of different drainage bags. We use some of your drainage bags for indwelling urinary catheter. This one I really think is wonderful, as far as discreteness, especially for those who have an external. We’re going to get to in a second external condom catheters. This one actually goes over the thigh. Correct?
Belinda Coyle: Yup. That’s correct. It is the Active, Coloplast Active.
Diane Newman: You know, you may look at this and say, “Wow. Look at the length of that.” That’s really great because some thighs are not as thin as this lady’s. Let me tell you that. So, the thing is it’s really great, and patients love this. Now, the other important thing about this that is she has a connector on this. One thing that we don’t often think about, as nurses and patients, is that you may need to get a connector at the end of these bags to help, as far as hooking into say an indwelling catheter, because we use your bags for indwelling catheters or external. So, let’s go to your next product. You know, when I invited Coloplast here, I was really interested in their external condom catheters. You know, we talked about catheterization for incomplete bladder emptying or urinary retention, but external condom catheters are used for men who have urinary incontinence. It’s not that they can empty their bladders, but they also have incontinence, which is urine leakage. You have the Optima, which I think is a fantastic product. Why don’t you show us this?
Belinda Coyle: It really is. So, it has the plastic outer coating here that’s very discrete, very easy to open. Pull it back this way. This is the Conveen Optima. It does have an anti-kink reservoir here at the end, which makes it a unique product. It also has the ridges here that when you do connect it to say this adapter-
Diane Newman: Yeah. See how she did that? That’s what’s really important … the external, the open end of it, to that connector. That’s important to have that connector with the bag, as far as it also allows a little more flexibility. Yeah. That’s exactly how it’s done. I want to really stress is that what’s nice about this product is this. You have to roll this on the penis. Right? The thing is that it has adhesive.
Belinda Coyle: It does have adhesive.
Diane Newman: A lot of people don’t have the dexterity to put this on. What’s nice about this is this tab. I want you to show us how that’s used.
Belinda Coyle: You can kind of use this. This probably is not going to fit on that anatomy, so we’ll scratch that. I’ll use my fingers. You can use this tab to help guide this product on.
Diane Newman: Look how nicely that goes on with the tab. Look. That tab does not come off. It’s going down the whole way. Then you can see the adhesive is working on that. Also, the clearness of these. I mean, Mentor was the first who came out with the Clear Advantage. Then of course you have evolved this product. But you can see the penile shaft under here, the skin, as far as breakdown or whatever.
Belinda Coyle: So, this is 100% silicon based product. It is stretchable. It’s flexible. It will bend with the anatomy. It allows the skin to breathe, so it is more skin friendly. Again, the anti-kink reservoir, so if it is someone that’s active, you don’t take a risk of having that urine backup and blow the catheter off.
Diane Newman: Right. And pull here. Right. It doesn’t pull here, which is very important. Like she said, a lot of men complain with other products it kinks like this. This does not do this. This is much more … it’s just a better-made product in quality. The other thing I think we want to bring up us the fact of-
Belinda Coyle: Very important piece for any of the externals.
Diane Newman: This is very important … Why don’t you show us this? Because, you know, I find that a lot of nurses, including a lot of urology nurses, shy away from recommending external condom catheters, because of the fact that they have to size them, and there’s many sizes. Right?
Belinda Coyle: Yes.
Diane Newman: But Coloplast gives you this right within the box of these products. Basically what you do is you size the penis. You put this on the shaft to see which size. As you can see, it’s in millimeters. Right?
Belinda Coyle: Mm-hmm.
Diane Newman: From 21 to 40, depending on really the circumference of the penis. Right?
Belinda Coyle: Yup. Also with this product a lot of times, I know, being a nurse myself, we would tend to put product on that was maybe a little bit bigger, because we didn’t want it to be too tight. With this product however, if they’re in between two sizes, you would actually want to go with the smaller size, because it is that silicon material, and it’s breathable and will expand with the anatomy.
Diane Newman: Yeah. Size is important. If it’s too big, it’s going to leak. Right?
Belinda Coyle: Mm-hmm.
Diane Newman: And if it’s too tight, it can strangulate the penile shaft, causing skin breakdown and other issues. Right?
Belinda Coyle: Right.
Diane Newman: The sizing’s very important. When you teach, you want to make sure. Really you’re given that information. Right?
Belinda Coyle: Absolutely. All the steps are on the measuring guide there. This part can be torn off of course and taken in-
Diane Newman: And used. Right.
Belinda Coyle: … and used this way.
Diane Newman:: So, listen. Thank you so much for being with us.
Belinda Coyle: Thank you.
Diane Newman: I mean, this is such great information. Thank you for showing all your wonderful products. You know, I commend Coloplast for really more and more in the increase in improved technology and, again, listening to our patients. Thank you very much.
Belinda Coyle: Thank you so much for having me.