Approximately 15 years ago, I was working at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. I attended several Infection Control Committee meetings where evidence was presented to the committee regarding the use of silver coated Foley catheters instead of the current standard catheters. The evidence suggested that the hospital would experience fewer incidences of catheter-acquired urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) because of the antimicrobial characteristics of the silver. I did not stay with the hospital long enough to observe any statistics that would verify the efficacy of switching to the silver coated catheters that the committee decided to adopt. However, this past summer I came across some articles that contradicted the evidence that was brought to
…show more content…
There are so many factors that could contribute to a CAUTIs etiology that there is not a “one size fits all” procedure for catheter placement and management. What used to be considered a standard of care has become more regulated, even by private insurance companies that will not reimburse hospitals for CAUTI related expenses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2009) has a short list of only six appropriate reasons for catheter use that include, “Patient has acute urinary retention or bladder outlet obstruction” and “Need for accurate measurements of urinary output in critically ill patients.” (para. 1) Hospitals are continually looking for best practices associated with catheter use to reduce CAUTI incidence since they are “the most commonly used medical devices.” (Lam, Omar, Fisher, Gillies, & MacLennan, 2014) For purposes of this paper, a CAUTI will be defined by presence of bacteriuria in the …show more content…
Leuck et al. found “promising preliminary findings” (p. 264) of the safety and efficacy using newer technology in catheters. They chose a silver coated catheter that is “sustained-release technology and is designed to prevent both intraluminal and extra luminal routes of infection.” (p. 261) The study included just 100 patients, all at the same facility. The conclusion was that not only was there a decrease in CAUTIs, but that it took longer for infections to develop.
A larger recent study was done by Lederer, Jarvis, Thomas, and Ritter that included seven hospitals. To note is that this study was sponsored by Bard, a manufacturer of urinary catheters. This study included several definitions of CAUTI which incorporated the CDC definitions and their own clinical definitions. There were over 1500 participants in this study. Researchers had the strong conclusion that the “Results of this study demonstrated that the silver-alloy hydrogel Foley catheter was associated with a significant reduction in CAUTIs rates in a real-world setting.” (p. 479)
There are so many factors that could contribute to a CAUTIs etiology that there is not a “one size fits all” procedure for catheter placement and management. What used to be considered a standard of care has become more regulated, even by private insurance companies that will not reimburse hospitals for CAUTI related expenses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2009) has a short list of only six appropriate reasons for catheter use that include, “Patient has acute urinary retention or bladder outlet obstruction” and “Need for accurate measurements of urinary output in critically ill patients.” (para. 1) Hospitals are continually looking for best practices associated with catheter use to reduce CAUTI incidence since they are “the most commonly used medical devices.” (Lam, Omar, Fisher, Gillies, & MacLennan, 2014) For purposes of this paper, a CAUTI will be defined by presence of bacteriuria in the …show more content…
Leuck et al. found “promising preliminary findings” (p. 264) of the safety and efficacy using newer technology in catheters. They chose a silver coated catheter that is “sustained-release technology and is designed to prevent both intraluminal and extra luminal routes of infection.” (p. 261) The study included just 100 patients, all at the same facility. The conclusion was that not only was there a decrease in CAUTIs, but that it took longer for infections to develop.
A larger recent study was done by Lederer, Jarvis, Thomas, and Ritter that included seven hospitals. To note is that this study was sponsored by Bard, a manufacturer of urinary catheters. This study included several definitions of CAUTI which incorporated the CDC definitions and their own clinical definitions. There were over 1500 participants in this study. Researchers had the strong conclusion that the “Results of this study demonstrated that the silver-alloy hydrogel Foley catheter was associated with a significant reduction in CAUTIs rates in a real-world setting.” (p. 479)