Silver Alloy Coated Catheters Reduce Catheter‐associated Bacteriuria

Abstract

The tendency of indwelling catheters to cause urinary tract infection was evaluated in a randomised clinical study of 223 patients. A Foley catheter coated with silver alloy on both inner and outer surfaces was used in 60 patients; 60 others received a Teflonised latex Foley''s catheter and the remaining 103 patients were excluded because of antibiotic treatment, diabetes, etc. There was a statistically significant difference in the incidence of catheter-associated bacteriuria (> 105 organisms/ml) in the 2 groups after 6 days'' catheterisation: 6 patients with the silver coated catheter developed bacteriuria compared with 22 who had the Teflonised latex catheter. This suggests that the silver impregnated urethral catheters reduce the incidence of catheter-associated urinary tract infection.