Q: What are the causes for blood in urine after insertion of urinary catheter? Is this a common occurrence? My urologist told me not to worry. But I have pain and blood in the urine. The catheter was inserted yesterday and the flow was controlled till this morning. The flow controller was removed in the morning today, and I had a little pain initially and the urine was clear. But when I reached home the bag was full of blood. What should I do to treat this?

A:Urethral catheterisation is always associated with blood in urine, microscopic or gross, and it usually settles down in a day or two. It results from mechanical trauma from the catheterisation. If you are on any antiplatelet agents, like aspirin, the bleeding may last longer. Decompression of chronically distended bladder may result in significant bleeding lasting over even longer.