Identify potential complications of long-term indwelling urinary catheter use in adults.

• A. Improved bladder function
• B. CAUTI, bladder stones, urethral erosion/strictures, reduced bladder contractility, leakage, discomfort, encrustation
• C. Weight gain
• D. No complications

Answer: (B)

Long-term indwelling catheters introduce a persistent foreign object into the urinary tract, which disrupts normal defense mechanisms and promotes irritation, infection, and mechanical injury. The most clinically significant complications reflect these processes: catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) from bacterial colonization and biofilm formation; bladder stone formation or encrustation from mineral deposition on the catheter and within the urinary tract; urethral erosion or strictures due to ongoing friction and irritation; reduced detrusor (bladder) contractility from disuse over time; leakage around the catheter from imperfect drainage or sphincter/urethral dynamics; and general discomfort from the device and its presence. These problems are characteristic of long-term use and arise from the combination of a continuous foreign body, urine stasis, infection risk, and mechanical irritation.

Options suggesting improved bladder function or no complications don’t align with the realities of prolonged catheter use, and weight gain isn’t a direct or typical complication of catheterization.