Intravesicular pressure monitoring does not cause urinary tract infection

• Published in: Intensive care medicine 2006-10, Vol.32 (10), p.1640-1643
• Main Authors: CHEATHAM, Michael L, SAGRAVES, Scott G, JOHNSON, Jeffery L, WHITE, Mark W
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abdomen; Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy; Bacterial diseases; Bacterial diseases of the urinary system; Biological and medical sciences; Care and treatment; Catheters; Causes of; Compartment syndrome; Compartment Syndromes - physiopathology; Critical Illness; Critically ill; Diagnosis; Emergency and intensive respiratory care; Female; Health aspects; Human bacterial diseases; Humans; Hypertension; Iatrogenic Disease; Illnesses; Infectious diseases; Intensive care; Intensive care medicine; Male; Medical records; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Monitoring, Physiologic - adverse effects; Monitoring, Physiologic - instrumentation; Nosocomial infections; Patients; Pressure; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; Surgery; Trauma; Trauma centers; Urinalysis; Urinary Bladder - physiopathology; Urinary tract diseases; Urinary tract infections; Urinary Tract Infections - etiology; Urinary Tract Infections - physiopathology; Urine; Urogenital system
• ISSN: 0342-4642; 1432-1238
• DOI: 10.1007/s00134-006-0350-z

To determine whether intravesicular pressure monitoring using a closed system increases the risk of nosocomial urinary tract infection. Retrospective chart and database review. Surgical/trauma intensive care units of a regional level-I trauma center. 3108 critically ill patients of which 122 patients underwent intravesicular pressure monitoring. Severity-adjusted urinary tract infection rates were compared among patients with and without intravesicular pressure monitoring. Over a 24-month period, 122 consecutive patients had 2202 intravesicular pressure measurements performed. During 1448 urinary catheter days, 15 patients who required intravesicular pressure monitoring developed a urinary tract infection with a severity-adjusted device-related infection rate of 7.9 infections per 1000 catheter days. Of the 2986 patients who did not require such monitoring, 98 patients developed a urinary tract infection with an infection rate of 6.5 infections per 1000 catheter days (p=0.56). Intravesicular pressure monitoring using the closed transducer technique is safe and does not increase the risk of urinary tract infection.