Urinary catheters and antibiotic treatment. Guidelines adherence could be better

Indwelling urinary catheter is a well-known risk for urinary tract infection (UTI). In order to minimize the risk for UTI urinary catheters should be used with prudence. On April 24th 2002 we performed a point-prevalence study on the use of indwelling urinary catheters in 31 acute hospitals and 766 long-term-care-facilities (LTCF) with 6,369 patients and 22,153 residents respectively. In the hospitals an average of 16.5% of the patients were treated with indwelling urinary catheters. The corresponding figure for LTCFs was 6.2%. Compared to 1994 there was an increase in the prevalence of urinary catheters in hospitals (from 11% to 16.5%). For LTCFs it was not possible to make such a comparison. Suprapubic catheters were used in 4% of the cases in hospitals and 10% in LTCFs. Closed drainage systems were used in about 75% both in hospitals and LTCFs. Approximately 10% of the patients/residents with indwelling urinary catheter were treated with antibiotics due to an UTI. Urinary culture was performed in only about half of those cases. To ensure patient safety hospital departments and LTCFs should, to our opinion, make enquiries on prevalence of indwelling urinary catheters, drainage systems and antibiotic treatment among their patients/residents on a regular basis.