Table 1.

Advantages and disadvantages of various catheter materials

	Silicone	Polyurethane	Polyethylene	Teflon
Biocompatibility	high	high	fair	fair
Wall diameter	thick	thin	thick	thick
Bacterial adherence	low	low	high	low
Stiffness	flexible	somewhat flexible	rigid	rigid
Chemical resistance	high	high	high	high
Temperature resistance	high	poor	high	high, but can't be autoclaved
Memory	excellent	poor	poor	poor
Accepts antithrombotic coating	no	yes	no	no
Additional considerations	easy to modify	initially rigid, softens at body temperature	unlikely to kink, high tensile strength	stiffness may promote vessel irritation

Modified from references 35, 57, 78, and 3.