마지막 업데이트: 8월 30, 2026

Clean intermittent catheterization (CIC) is a routine part of urological care in Western countries but is still used relatively little in this region. It is what we turn to when the bladder can no longer empty itself properly — so it helps to start with what the bladder is supposed to do.

The bladder’s job is to store urine and then squeeze it out completely. With age, or with any condition that damages the bladder muscle or its nerve supply, that squeeze becomes incomplete and urine is left behind after voiding — the residual urine volume. Urine that sits in the bladder becomes a reservoir where bacteria can settle and multiply. This is why these patients come to me with urinary tract infections that keep returning, and with the impression that the antibiotics are not working, when the real problem is that the bladder never empties. For an 과활동성 방광, the most effective answer is CIC.

Important — please read first. The instructions below are a reference for patients who have already been assessed by a urologist, had CIC prescribed, and been taught the technique in person by a doctor or nurse. Catheterisation is easy to describe and less easy to do well; passing a catheter without training can injure the urethra, and the underlying cause of incomplete emptying needs diagnosing before anyone starts. Please do not attempt this from a written guide alone. Read this to understand what you have been taught, or to prepare for a training session — not instead of one.

An older man affected by incomplete bladder emptying and recurrent urinary infection
A neurogenic or underactive bladder is a common cause of recurrent bladder infection.

Why clean rather than sterile

Catheterisation in hospital is done with full sterile technique: trained staff, a sterile field, and single-use disposable equipment. That is appropriate in a clinical setting, but it is neither affordable nor practical for someone who needs to catheterise every single day, indefinitely.

CIC deliberately relaxes the requirement from sterility to cleanliness, which is what makes it something a patient or family member can do at home at a manageable cost. The obvious worry is infection — and the reassuring finding from the 문학 is that infection rates with the clean technique are comparable to the sterile technique. That single piece of evidence is what makes long-term home catheterisation possible.

Urine sample showing infection, the recurring problem when the bladder does not empty fully
Repeated bladder infections should always prompt a search for a correctable cause.

The CIC technique, step by step

For patients who have been trained in this technique. If your urologist or nurse gave you different instructions, follow theirs.

  1. Pass urine normally first, as far as you are able.
  2. 액체 비누와 물로 손을 씻으십시오.
  3. Wash the genital area with an over-the-counter antiseptic soap.
  4. Take the catheter out of its container carefully, keeping it clean and avoiding contact with anything else.
  5. Apply water-based lubricating jelly generously to the tip of the catheter. Use plenty — under-lubricating is the commonest cause of discomfort and of urethral trauma.
  6. Get into position — sitting on the toilet works for most people, lying down for others — and have a container ready if you are not draining directly into the toilet.
  7. Pass the lubricated catheter gently into the urethra. It should slide; if it does not, stop and do not force it.
  8. Continue until urine begins to flow — that tells you the tip has reached the bladder.
  9. Advance it a little further so the tip sits properly inside the bladder rather than at its neck.
  10. Hold the catheter in place and let the bladder drain completely.
  11. Withdraw the catheter slowly and return it to its container of antiseptic solution.
  12. Wash the genital area again, and wash your hands.

Looking after the equipment

Cloudy urine is not the same as an infection

This is worth understanding early, because it decides how many courses of antibiotics you end up taking over the years. Almost everyone who catheterises regularly will grow bacteria in their urine. That is colonisation, not infection, and in a person who feels well it does not need antibiotics and does not need a urine sample sent. International infection guidance is explicit that the look and smell of the urine should not be used to decide whether infection is present.

What decides it is how you feel: fever or shaking chills, new pain in the flank or lower abdomen, blood appearing in the urine, unexplained tiredness or feeling generally unwell. Those are worth contacting your doctor about. Cloudy or strong-smelling urine on its own, in someone who feels normal, usually is not — and treating it repeatedly causes antibiotic resistance without making anything better. Drinking normally through the day and keeping to your catheterisation schedule does more than any antibiotic here.

When to be seen the same day

Go to an emergency department the same day — in Thailand you can call 1669:

Book a review, rather than an emergency visit, if catheterisation becomes newly painful or difficult when it had been easy, if you are seeing blood more than occasionally, if leakage between catheterisations is getting worse, or if you find you are needing to catheterise more often than the schedule you were given. Any of those suggests something has changed and is worth checking rather than working around.

CIC sounds daunting when it is first suggested, and most patients are apprehensive. In practice it becomes routine within a few weeks, and for people who have spent years on repeated antibiotic courses, the drop in infections is usually what convinces them it was worth learning.

과활동성 방광, 불완전한 배뇨, 또는 재발성 요로 감염이 있고 전문적인 평가 및 CIC 교육을 원하시면, Soarawee Weerasopone 박사가 방콕 병원 본원에서 전문 상담을 제공합니다. 진료 예약. 사미즈 시라차 병원 예약은 비뇨기과로 전화하여 하실 수 있습니다. 088-022-1445. Questions about the cost of consultation, training or equipment should go to the hospital directly — for Bangkok Hospital, by email to bhquro@bdms.co.th.

Bangkok Hospital also runs a Telemedicine service, arranged in advance by email to the Urology department at bhquro@bdms.co.th. It is useful for reviewing how CIC is going, troubleshooting problems, and discussing whether the schedule still suits you. The initial assessment and the hands-on training must be done in person, and so must any problem you are having with the technique itself — that is something to be watched rather than described. Samitivej Sriracha is in-person only.

간헐적 도뇨법 자주 묻는 질문

간헐적 도뇨는 무엇인가요?

간헐적 도뇨(CIC)는 얇고 유연한 튜브인 카테터를 요도를 통해 방광에 삽입하여 정기적으로 소변을 배출하는 시술입니다. 방광이 신경 손상, 근육 약화 또는 요폐를 유발하는 기타 질환으로 인해 스스로 완전히 비울 수 없을 때 사용됩니다.

청결 간헐적 도뇨법이 필요한 사람은 누구인가요?

CIC는 방광을 완전히 비울 수 없는 저활동성 또는 신경인성 방광 환자에게 권장됩니다. 일반적인 원인으로는 척수 손상, 다발성 경화증, 당뇨병성 신경병증, 방광 출구 폐쇄, 수술 후 요폐 등이 있습니다. 만성적인 방광 불완전 배뇨는 재발성 요로 감염으로 이어지는 경우가 많으므로, CIC는 필수적인 관리 전략입니다.

자가 도뇨는 집에서 해도 안전한가요?

Yes, once you have been trained in the technique by a doctor or nurse. Unlike sterile catheterization performed in hospitals, CIC requires cleanliness rather than full sterility. Evidence from medical literature confirms that infection rates with the clean technique are comparable to the sterile technique, making it a practical and cost-effective option for long-term home use. It should not be attempted from written instructions alone.

CIC를 얼마나 자주 수행해야 하나요?

CIC의 빈도는 방광 기능 장애의 정도와 비뇨의학과 전문의의 권고에 따라 다릅니다. 대부분의 환자는 하루에 최소 한 번 CIC를 시행하지만, 다른 환자는 4-6시간마다 시행해야 할 수도 있습니다. 목표는 방광이 과도하게 팽창하는 것을 방지하고, 잔뇨로 인한 요로 감염의 위험을 줄이는 것입니다.

CIC 카테터는 얼마나 오래 재사용할 수 있나요?

CIC 카테터 세트는 적절하게 세척 및 소독액에 보관될 경우 일반적으로 최대 3주까지 재사용할 수 있으며, 소독액은 매일 교체해야 합니다. 3주 후에는 감염 위험을 최소화하고 고무가 마모되어 요도 자극이나 손상을 유발하는 것을 방지하기 위해 카테터를 교체해야 합니다.

My urine is cloudy and smells. Do I need antibiotics?

Usually not. Almost everyone who catheterises regularly grows bacteria in the urine, and in a person who feels well that is colonisation rather than infection. International guidance states that the appearance and smell of urine should not be used to decide whether infection is present, and treating it repeatedly causes antibiotic resistance without benefit. What matters is how you feel: fever or shaking chills, new flank or lower abdominal pain, blood in the urine, unexplained tiredness or feeling generally unwell are the reasons to contact your doctor. Drinking normally and keeping to your catheterisation schedule does more here than antibiotics.

What should make me go to an emergency department?

Being unable to pass the catheter when your bladder is full needs same-day attention, and you should stop trying rather than forcing it, because repeated attempts injure the urethra. Fever or shaking chills, particularly with flank pain or feeling systemically unwell, and heavy bleeding also need same-day assessment. If you have a spinal cord injury, a sudden pounding headache with sweating or flushing above the level of your injury, especially when the bladder is full or not draining, is an emergency: draining the bladder often relieves it, and you should tell the emergency team you have a spinal cord injury and that this may be autonomic dysreflexia. In Thailand the emergency number is 1669.

고지 사항: This content is written and reviewed by Dr. Soarawee Weerasopone, a board-certified urologist at Bangkok Hospital Headquarters. It is intended for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. The instructions above are a reference for patients who have been assessed and trained in this technique, and are not a guide to attempting catheterisation without training. No medical advice, diagnosis or prescription is provided through personal messaging channels or social media. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before starting any medical treatment. In an emergency, attend the nearest emergency department — in Thailand the emergency number is 1669.

의학적으로 작성 및 검토됨: 소아라위 위라소폰 박사(폼 박사) - 방콕 병원 본부 소속 비뇨기과 전문의, 2016년부터 비뇨기과 진료 중. 펠로우십: 로봇 수술, 창궁 기념 병원, 대만(2019) · 참관: 내시경 비뇨기과, 준텐도 대학 병원, 도쿄(2022) · 연구원 및 임상 참관: 베일러 의과대학 스콧 비뇨기과, 미국(2025~2026).

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