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. 2016 Oct-Dec;8(4):423-429.
doi: 10.4103/0974-7796.192099.

The efficacy of noble metal alloy urinary catheters in reducing catheter-associated urinary tract infection

Alanood Ahmed Aljohi  1 , Hanan Elkefafy Hassan  1 , Rakesh Kumar Gupta  1
Affiliations

The efficacy of noble metal alloy urinary catheters in reducing catheter-associated urinary tract infection

Alanood Ahmed Aljohi et al. Urol Ann. 2016 Oct-Dec.

Abstract

Background: Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) is the most common device-related healthcare-acquired infection. CAUTI can be severe and lead to bacteremia, significant morbidity, prolonged hospital stay, and high antibiotic consumption.

Patients and methods: In this study, we evaluated the CAUTI-reducing efficacy of noble metal alloy catheters in sixty patients (thirty per group) in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the King Fahad Hospital in Saudi Arabia. The study was a single-blinded, randomized, single-centered, prospective investigation that included patients using urinary catheters for 3 days.

Results: A 90% relative risk reduction in the rate of CAUTI was observed with the noble metal alloy catheter compared to the standard catheter (10 vs. 1 cases, P = 0.006). When considering both catheter-associated asymptomatic bacteriuria and CAUTI, the relative risk reduction was 83% (12 vs. 2 cases, P = 0.005). In addition to CAUTI, the risk of acquiring secondary bacteremia was lower (100%) for the patients using noble metal alloy catheters (3 cases in the standard group vs. 0 case in the noble metal alloy catheter group, P = 0.24). No adverse events related to any of the used catheters were recorded.

Conclusion: Results from this study revealed that noble metal alloy catheters are safe to use and significantly reduce CAUTI rate in ICU patients after 3 days of use.

Keywords: Anti-infective; Foley catheter; antimicrobial; bacteremia; bacteriuria; catheter-associated urinary tract infection; hospital-acquired infection; hydrogel; infection; noble metal alloy; silver alloy; urinary catheter.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Observed CAUTI, CA-ASB, and secondary bacteremia rates.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Polyuria and oliguria incidences in the standard and the noble metal alloy catheter groups after the 3 day-catheterization period. Some patients had polyuria/oliguria already before catheterization and were hence excluded from the calculations. 6/17 (35%) and 3/24 patients (12.5%) had polyuria, and 5/17 (29.4%) and 6/24 patients (25%) had oliguria in the standard and noble metal alloy catheter groups, respectively
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