How to Change Your Uresil Dressing

This video will show you how to change the Uresil dressing that's around your catheter.

The dressing, stopcock, and drainage system need to be changed once a week. If the dressing gets dirty, wet, loose, or if it's pulling away from your skin, it will need to be changed more often.

Before you start, make sure you have all the supplies you'll need in front of you. You'll need a no-sting barrier, plain gauze, non-sterile gloves, adhesive remover, a Uresil dressing, alcohol pads, gauze moistened with soap and water, Telfa, scissors, and a UC strip fastener or CathGrip. You may also find it helpful to have a garbage pail nearby.

Clean the scissors with an alcohol pad. Be careful not to cut yourself. If the Telfa you have is larger than 2 inches square, trim it so that it's 2 inches square. Then, cut a slit in it and put it down.

Even if you do most of your catheter care yourself, you'll probably need someone to help you at this point. Depending on the location of your catheter, you may be most comfortable lying down or reclining during your dressing change.

The best way to prevent infection is to clean your hands. If you're washing your hands with soap and water, wet your hands, apply soap. Rub them together for 15 seconds, then rinse. Dry your hands with a towel and use that same towel to turn off the faucet.

If you're using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, cover your hands with it and rub your hands together until they're dry. Cleaning your hands, also called hand hygiene, is an important part of caring for your drainage catheter.

Now that your hands are clean, put on your gloves. Make sure the drainage bag is resting someplace where it won't fall.

Hold the silicone disk using one finger to prevent pulling on the catheter. Find the slit in the Uresil dressing and start slowly and gently peeling back the adhesive away from the skin while holding the disk.

It may be easier if you hold the drain in place by keeping your finger on the disk while your caregiver removes the dressing.

If the skin around the catheter is sensitive, wipe adhesive remover around the edge of the dressing. This will help with your discomfort while you're removing the dressing.

Remember, the Uresil dressing is there to hold the drain in place. Once the dressing is removed, there's nothing holding the drain in.

Take one of the gauze pads and moisten it with soap and water. Use it to clean around the skin and under the disk. Then, clean the top and bottom of the silicone disk. Always, hold one side of the disk firmly while cleaning the other side.

Next, rinse and dry the skin and silicone disk with fresh gauze. Wipe the top of the silicone disk with an alcohol pad to remove any leftover soap. Don't wipe your skin with the alcohol pad, as this may dry out your skin and cause irritation.

Look at the disk nipple and make sure the black mark is near the disk. If it moved, finish changing your dressing, then call your doctor's office.

Hold one side of the disk firmly on your skin while tilting up the other side to look under the silicone disk. Look for redness, swelling, drainage that smells bad, or fluid leaking. If you see any of these, finish changing the dressing, then call your doctor.

You may notice new tissue growth at the insertion site. This is harmless, but it may cause pain. Let your doctor know if it's painful. It can be removed.

Apply the no-sting barrier film to the skin around and under the disk. Then, apply more on top of the disk where the dressing will be placed. It will help protect the skin, and it will help the adhesive stick better.

When you're applying the no-sting barrier under the disk, make sure that you hold the disk in place with one hand. Take the Telfa that you already cut and slide it under the disk with the slit facing your feet. This prevents moisture from building up under the disk and provides padding.

The Uresil dressing has three pieces of backing. The biggest piece takes up half the dressing.

The Uresil dressing will sit over the disk with the adhesive over the flange. The Uresil dressing will slide around the catheter between the two disks. It's important that the adhesive is over the disk closest to the skin.

Place the dressing so that the slit is facing down or sideways. Start at the corner of the biggest piece and slowly peel the backing away. As you peel away the backing, press the adhesive side to the skin to keep the dressing as smooth as possible.

This takes practice. If the dressing isn't sticking, remove the dressing and the Telfa and start again.

Remove the other two paper backings one at a time and press the adhesive to the skin. Overlap the slit edges to make the dressing more secure. Use the marker to write today's date on the dressing so you'll remember when you last changed it.

If you have a UC strip fastener, loosen it and take it off as you pull the tape off. Throw away the old strip.

Take the new UC strip fastener and peel the paper off the center section. Then, place the center section of the adhesive onto the drainage tubing about two to four inches down from the stopcock. Remove the backing on both sides of the strip and place it on your skin.

You may have a CathGrip instead of a UC strip fastener holding the catheter in place. If you're only changing the dressing right now, reattach the catheter to the CathGrip.

To do this, place the catheter on the device straps so the catheter will lie along the middle of the CathGrip. There are two straps on the CathGrip, one with holes and one with jagged edges. The strap with the holes has two openings. Insert the strap with the jagged edges into the lower opening of the other strap. Pull to secure the catheter in the CathGrip.

Take your gloves off and throw them away. Then, wash your hands.

To learn more about caring for your drainage catheter, ask your healthcare provider for more information. You can also find more resources on our website, www.mskcc.org/pe.