U-Drain for people needing night drainage of urine or dialysis fluid

The technology described in this briefing is the U‑Drain. It is used for people with a long-term urinary catheter, urinary sheath, urostomy pouch or who have automated peritoneal dialysis, who need night drainage of urine or dialysis fluid.

The innovative aspects are that it is a drainage system that is permanently installed in the user's home. It is used overnight for draining waste fluid directly into the existing soil pipe.

The intended place in therapy would be as an alternative to overnight drainage of urine or waste fluid into a night drainage bag in people with long-term urinary catheters, urinary sheaths, urostomy pouches or those having overnight automated peritoneal dialysis.

No publicly available evidence on the U‑Drain system was found. Although conventional clinical-effectiveness studies would not be expected on relatively simple technologies such as U‑Drain, evidence of impact on quality of life would be useful.

The cost of the U‑Drain device includes the installation at £350 and an annual cost of £130 for urine drainage consumables or £500 per year for automated peritoneal drainage consumables (exclusive of VAT). In usual care, the cost of night drainage bags is between about £13 and £91 per year depending on type, and the cost of peritoneal dialysis waste drainage bags is around £800 per year. Apart from equipment costs, the resource impact would be similar to standard care.