bartholin abcess drained, catheter fell out. what do i do?

by Talia
(Pittsburgh, Pa)

Today I had a bartholin cyst drained. The doctor lanced it, drained it and inserted a word catheter. It was placed fine, the procedure went well, but a few hours after returning home I realized the catheter had slipped out, probably because the amount of drainage. The problem is, my Dr. Office is closed for the weekend and I'm not sure what I should do at the moment since my follow up isn't until Monday and it is Friday. I've had these cysts before and they were treated almost the same, except they were packed with gauze instead of a catheter being inserted.
I am currently taking keflex, ortho tri-cyclen, and hydrocodone.
I smoke cigarettes, less then half a pack a day. I drink alcohol on occasions.
There seems to be no one else in my family who has had these cysts.
I have tried sitz bathes as well as antibiotics to treat the cysts, along with lancing and draining. The word catheter is the most recent. In the long run, I don’t know if its urgent to have the catheter replaced or if its fine if I wait a few days till I see a Dr.

Catheter fallen out

Catheters falling out are not an uncommon situation. In your case, I suspect that it will be alright to leave it over the weekend. The only issue is the incised area closing and reforming an abscess, but as long as there is fluid draining from the incised site or the site is drying up and remaining open, then there is no issue. I would suggest if you get increased pain, increased swelling or fever that you go to the ER to get it checked, otherwise I don’t think you need to worry too much about this. Good luck and have a good weekend!

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