Adhesive on the catheter tube

[dlady64]

I've only had my catheter for 5-6 weeks and it got gross with adhesive residue.  The PD nurse said there wasn't anything that could be done, but my husband noticed that she cleaned my exit site with a bleach solution.  He decided to try the bleach solution on the tube--it's clean!!

Don't know if anyone else has this problem, but wondered how y'all deal with it...

[KT0930]

Alcohol wipes were my best friend! (You should get some in your supply shipment, as you'll need it when you put heparin in your bags for fibrin).

[KICKSTART]

Only use what the hospital give you please ..you dont want any infections !!!

[dlady64]

Alcohol, eh?  I'll have to check through my supplies and see what I can find.  The tube gets grody in just one day

My PD nurse used the clorox/water solution to clean my exit site, so I assumed that would be fine.  Other than that, I haven't varied a hair from my training.

[KT0930]

If you didn't get any alcohol pads in your shipment, you can buy them at any of the pharmacies. They're not expensive.

[rookiegirl]

I know all clinics give different advice.  My clinic here told me not to ever use alcohol on my cather tube because over time, this will cause dryness and will crack the tube.  As for clorox & water solution, I'm not aware of this mixture.  The 1st 5 months when my cath was placed, my clinic gave me bottle of "special water" to clean my exit site.  For the tape residue, I was told I can use antibacterial soap to clean the tube.

[Laurie]

My clinic here told me not to ever use alcohol on my cather tube because over time, this will cause dryness and will crack the tube.  For the tape residue, I was told I can use antibacterial soap to clean the tube.

I was told the same thing. Only soap and water to clean the tube.

[KT0930]

I never asked, never thought to, I just used the alcohol occasionally, though. Once I was able to shower and was using the anti-bacterial soap on it, I didn't have a problem with the adhesive.

[MiSSis]

My nurse gave me some adhesive remover wipes to use but stressed that I should only use these on the plastic connector and never on the tube itself.  When I do my dressing change in the morning following my shower, I just wipe of the tubing with some antibacterial soap and water, using a clean 4x4.

[kimcanada]

Do you all mean that the tube coming out of you gets sticky... oh man I hope my stomach can handle all this 

[mikey07840]

My PD nurses told me to use one of the sterile 4x4s that had ExCept (used to clean the site when changing the dressing) to clean off residue.

Mikey

[dlady64]

Apparently, I have more problems with adhesive than other folks.  The good news is I found the cure!!

I bought a product called Preppies Adhesive Remover Preps by Kendall.  It's saturated with Deobase, citrus extract, and aloe extract.  I also switched to 3M's Micropore paper tape.  It still leaves some residue but I can rub it off pretty easily.

It looks as though I'll have more scarring from all the tape than from the placement of the catheter 

[MiSSis]

The paper tape that my dialysis center provides me is too sticky for me to use on my skin.  It always caused me to break out and it itched terribly.  As I result, I buy Johnson & Johnson's Hurt-Free paper tape which is much less sticky.  I had a lot of problems initially but someone on this board (and I can't remember who it was now but I'm really grateful for their suggestion!) mentioned that she'd taken several of her husband's t-shirts and had cut a hole or slit in them for her catheter to pass thru.  When she dialyzed, she would then tape the catheter down to the t-shirt.  I tried this and it really works.  Now the only place I have tape directly on my skin at night is a small piece close to the exit site to hold my catheter in place during treatment.  If I didn't do this, I found that even though it was taped to the t-shirt, I still had some tugging at the exit site which would irritate it. 

During the day, I still have to use some tape in order to hold the bandage covering my catheter in place.  In talking with my PD nurse yesterday, I told her that I still get some irritation (although not as much as I used to).  She gave me some samples to try.  It's called "Sureprep", a protective wipe, which, according to the packet ... when allowed to dry, it forms a tough coating which bonds to skin.  It's supposed to form protection between tape and skin.  Since I only used it for the first time last night I don't have enough experience to know if it will work for me although my nurse said she had a couple of other patients who have been really pleased with the results. 

Don't be afraid to talk to your nurse about these types of things even though they might seem minor or insignificant.  Even after 4 1/2 years back on PD, I'm still learning about new procedures and products that have become available.

[oleboy]

Around the exit site I was told by my nurse to take some of the hand sanitizer on a 4X4 to clean the area, she said to clean the cath also with it,and then wipe it with a clean moist 4X4.