The Sponge-Tipped Catheter--a Modification of the Open End Catheter for Recording of Myometrial Activity in Vivo

Abstract

Many techniques, especially the intra-uterine rubber balloon, have been used for the recording of uterine contractions in the pregnant and non-pregnant woman. The size of the balloon and its tension, however, greatly influence the results, as Reynolds (1949) has pointed out. Furthermore, it is difficult to maintain exactly the same balloon volume throughout several hours' recording.Some years ago Hendricks (1964) introduced the`o pen end' catheter technique which is rather simple: a thin, fluid-filled polyethylene catheter is introduced into the cavity of the non-pregnant uterus, and its outer end is connected to a recording system. The fluid surface at the inner tip of the catheter acts as a pressure membrane which transmits the pressure in the slit between the anterior and posterior uterine wall to the fluid within the catheter and thence to the recording instrument. In trained hands this technique works very well and it has been successfully used by

Uterine contractility and embryo implantation

“…The limitation of IUP recording lies in its invasive nature that restricts the number and duration of recordings [14,15,[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26].…”

Excitatory response of guinea-pig myometrium to intravenous noradrenaline declines towards term

“…Intrauterine pressure was recorded from a sponge-tipped, open-ended polyvinyl catheter (Bengtsson, 1968) situated between the fetal membranes and the uterine wall. The catheter was inserted at laparotomy through a small incision in the uterine wall, which was closed by a pursestring suture.…”

Physiology and Genetics of Reproduction

“…Intrauterine pressure was recorded by means of a polyethylene catheter (p.E. 160 Clay Adams), employing the method described by Bengtsson (1968 surrounded by a small sponge (Fig. 2).…”