Highlights
- •In hospitals, use of urinary catheters (UC) may lead to infections.
- •Therefore, UC should be removed expeditiously.
- •Protocols focused on clinical service were developed.
- •This physician-led collaboration reduced the duration of use of UC.
- •And also reduced the duration of hospitalization.
Abstract
Background
Urinary tract infections are the leading cause of nosocomial infections in the United
States. The major contributing factor is the placement of indwelling urinary catheters.
Methods
Following a chart review of adult patients hospitalized at a tertiary care medical
center who required the use of a short-term (≤ 2 weeks) indwelling urinary catheter,
a collaborative effort was initiated by an Infectious Diseases physician to develop
protocols focused on the clinical service involved for the expeditious removal of
short-term indwelling urinary catheters. The protocols relied in part on the standards
of practice by pertinent medical/surgical subspecialty societies. Usage of urinary
catheters and duration of hospitalization following implementation of the protocols
was assessed.
Results
Based on a multivariate analysis controlling for demographic variables, comorbidities,
medical vs surgical service, and indication for the urinary catheterization, the median
duration of catheterization was significantly reduced from 6.7 days to 3.6 days after
the protocols were initiated (P < .001), and the median duration of hospitalization was significantly reduced from
9.5 days to 5.9 days (P < .001). No patient had to have the urinary catheter reinserted.
Conclusions
Development of collaborative protocols for the removal of short-term indwelling urinary
catheters significantly reduced both the duration of catheterization and the duration
of hospitalization.
Key Words
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: December 08, 2021
Footnotes
Funding/support: This work was supported by the New York State Department of Health- New York State Empire Clinical Research Investigator Program (ECRIP) .
Conflicts of interest: Dr. Wormser reports receiving research grants from the Institute for Systems Biology and Pfizer, Inc. He has been an expert witness in malpractice cases involving Lyme disease and is an unpaid board member of the American Lyme Disease Foundation. The remaining authors have nothing to disclose.
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
