The most common cause of leakage around an indwelling urinary catheter is due to:

• A. Bladder spasms.
• B. Using a catheter that is too small.
• C. Inserting a latex catheter.
• D. Administering anticholinergic medications.

Answer: (A)

Leakage around an indwelling catheter is most often due to bladder spasms. When the detrusor muscle contracts involuntarily, intravesical pressure rises. Even with the catheter and its balloon in place, this surge can push urine around the catheter tract and leak out beside the catheter. That’s why managing detrusor overactivity helps reduce leakage—anticholinergic or other anti-spasmodic therapies can lessen these contractions. Other factors like catheter size or material don’t typically drive the most common leakage mechanism, though an irritant-filled or under-seated bladder can contribute, the dominant cause remains spasms.