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Council Tip Catheter

The Council tip catheter is a modified Foley catheter with a small central hole at the tip — allowing it to be passed over a guidewire through a tight urethral stricture, distorted urethra, or narrow bladder-neck contracture that a standard Foley cannot traverse.

Design​

  • Otherwise a standard Foley catheter (balloon, drainage lumen)
  • Central tip hole accommodates a 0.035" or 0.038" guidewire
  • Once positioned over the wire, the wire is withdrawn and the balloon is inflated to secure the catheter

Key Uses​

  • Radiation-induced urethral stricture that cannot be passed by a standard catheter
  • Bladder-neck contracture after radical prostatectomy
  • Post-instrumentation urethral edema obstructing standard Foley passage
  • Urethral false passage — wire-guided placement avoids re-traumatizing the native lumen
  • Distorted urethra after pelvic trauma or prior reconstruction

Technique​

  1. Flexible cystoscopy or fluoroscopy identifies the true urethral lumen
  2. A hydrophilic guidewire (Sensor, Glidewire) is passed through the stricture into the bladder
  3. The Council tip catheter is loaded over the wire at the tip
  4. Catheter advanced over the wire into the bladder
  5. Wire withdrawn, balloon inflated, urine return confirmed

Reconstructive Relevance​

The Council tip catheter is a signature tool of the reconstructive urologist managing post-radiation and post-prostatectomy complications. When a standard Foley fails to pass and urology is consulted, the Council tip + wire approach is often the difference between a cystoscopy suite placement and a trip to the OR.

See also: Foley Catheter, Coudé Catheter, Urethropubic Fistula.