What are Catheters?
Catheters are hollow tubes, usually made of plastic or rubber, that either deliver or remove fluids to or from the body. They are one of the oldest devices in medicine, first used by the Greek physician Erastratus in the third century B.C.E. Practical applications of catheters in medicine are almost boundless, and new applications are developed frequently. Common uses of catheters are discussed below. The foley catheter treats urinary incontinence or is used during long medical procedures and surgeries. Women who have an epidural during the labor and delivery of a child will generally have a foley catheter placed because the epidural anesthetics result in a loss of bladder control. Intravenous (IV) therapy also relies on a catheter to, generally, transfer fluids into the body. IVs can also be used to extract fluids from the body. When donating blood, for example, an IV is used to collect blood from the body and through the catheter conduit, store it in plastic bags for later use. Compl
