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Using silver-lined catheters could reduce urinary tract infections, study finds

Case Management Weekly, May 7, 2008

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A study authored by two nurses from St. Vincent’s Rehabilitation Hospital in Sherwood, AK, found that using silver-coated catheters instead of latex-coated catheters greatly reduced catheter-associated urinary tract infections. The study is published in the April issue of Urologic Nursing.

For the study, the authors used only latex-coated catheters in their 42-bed facility for a period of four months and then used only silver-coated catheters for a period of six months. The results found 10 hospital-acquired catheter-associated urinary tract infections during the four month latex-coated catheter period and zero hospital-acquired catheter-associated urinary tract infections during the six month silver-coated catheter period.

The results of the study are significant because CMS will no longer reimburse hospitals for certain preventable conditions or hospital-related errors, including catheter-associated urinary tract infections, from October.

Source: Infection Control Today Magazine

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