Pilot Study of the Safety of a Daily Ethanol Lock for Urinary Catheters in Critically Ill Children

Ethanol lock, utilizing 74% ethanol, will begin within 24 hours of urinary catheter placement. The lock will be done every 24 hours for 1 hour. The volume that will be instilled depends upon the fill volume of the catheter, which is imprinted by the manufacturer on each catheter. Once the alcohol is in the catheter, the proximal end of the catheter will be clamped for 1 hour. After the 1 hour dwell time, the clamp will be removed and the alcohol in the lumen of the catheter will be flushed out by the patient's own urine output.