From episode 161 on the ECC feed. With Prof Mark Seitz.
Maybe it’s a trauma patient, maybe it’s a blocked cat. Whatever the reason, sometimes when you see free fluid in the abdomen you want to check the integrity of the bladder wall.
Have you heard of the bubble cystogram? Here it is:
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Agitated saline injected into the bladder through a urinary catheter will show bright bubbles on u/s that should stay in the bladder. If they go into the peritoneal space, you’ve got a problem!
How to:
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1-3ml/kg of saline in a 10ml syringe.
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Connect it with a 3-way stopcock to an empty syringe. (Keep it sterile)
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Push the saline back and forth, which agitates the fluid and creates small bubbles.
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Do it for about a minute, disconnect and inject that into the bladder via the ucath.
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You should see all the bubbles swirling around within (hopefully!) the lumen.
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