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Diagnosis and Management of Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection

  • Infectious Disease (H. Nguyen, Section Editor)
  • Published:
Current Emergency and Hospital Medicine Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

The widespread use of urinary catheters is associated with a rising number of catheter-associated infections (CA-UTI) and the approach to these infections presents a diagnostic challenge due to difficulty in differentiating this entity from catheter-associated asymptomatic bacteriuria (CA-ASB). This article reviews the current literature regarding diagnosis, microbiology, treatment, and prevention of CA-UTIs.

Recent Findings

Misconceptions surrounding diagnostic technique and indications for testing result in unneeded antimicrobial administration. Due to the substantial burden of CA-UTIs, much emphasis has been placed on prevention and the most successful prevention strategies are aimed at behavioral changes to minimize unnecessary catheterizations.

Summary

There are significant clinical sequelae of CA-UTIs and they pose a substantial burden on the healthcare system. Clinicians must accurately diagnose and manage CA-UTIs to prevent unnecessary antibiotic use which often leads to increasing antimicrobial resistance. In an effort to prevent CA-UTIs, healthcare systems should focus on prevention of unnecessary urinary catheterizations or prompt removal of urinary catheters once they are no longer indicated.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Valerie Burstein for her assistance with formatting.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California-Davis, 4150 V Street, Suite 2100, Sacramento, CA, 95817, USA

    Larissa May

  2. Internal Medicine: Section of Hospital Medicine, UC Davis Health System, 4150 V Street, Suite 3400, Sacramento, CA, 95817, USA

    Daniel Okamoto

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  1. Larissa May
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Correspondence to Larissa May or Daniel Okamoto.

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Dr. May and Dr. Okamoto declare no conflict of interests.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by the author.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Infectious Disease.

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May, L., Okamoto, D. Diagnosis and Management of Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection. Curr Emerg Hosp Med Rep 4, 136–140 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40138-016-0108-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40138-016-0108-z

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