One of the most unpleasant features of suprapubic bladder drainage is the constant saturation of the dressings with urine, together with the all-pervading odor, not to mention the present high cost of dressings. The patient's skin becomes excoriated, and he also suffers the discomfort of frequently lying in a puddle if the attendants do not promptly change the saturated pads.
Numerous attempts have been made to remedy this with various ingenious suction devices, the first of which I believe was Dawbarn's. Davis1 uses a vacuum bottle arrangement; Hume, Logan and Kells2 an electric pump with an alarm clock switch; Wallace3 an apparatus invented by Edmund White, resembling the Dawbarn. All of these appliances have faults which I have tried to obviate. Dawbarn's and White's require the bringing of several gallons of water to the pump daily and the removal of an equal amount. Davis' requires an air