Saturday November 12, 2005
Urinary Catheter related UTIs in ICU

There is a lot of emphasis on questioning everyday about nescessity of central venous lines but it may be of interest to know that urinary catheter related UTIs (urinary tract infections) makes 40% of hospital-acquired infections and 3% out of them ends up as bacteremia (and each episode of catheter-related nosocomial bacteremia costs a minimum of around US $3000). In ICUs, one recent study showed incidence density of 6 UCRI/1000 urinary catheter-days. (UCRI=urinary catheter related infection). In another study, implementation of nurse-driven surveillance of Criteria-Based Foley Catheter Guidelines (CFCG) protocol in ICU decreased UCRI from 6.4 to 1.9 per 1000 urinary catheter-days.

And no condom catheter are no better !

References: Click on link to get abstract/article:
1.Urinary catheter-related infection in critically ill patients Critical Care 2005, 9(Suppl 1):P12
2. Enhancing the Safety of Critically Ill Patients by Reducing Urinary and Central Venous Catheter-related Infections - American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine Vol 165. pp. 1475-1479, (2002)
3. The Effects of Criteria-Based Foley Catheter Guidelines in an ICU - Innovations in Clinical Excellence Evidence-Based Practice Contest Winners I - Sigma Theta Tau International 38th Biennial Convention November 12-13, 2005, Indianapolis, IN