Objective: To analyze the frequency, etiology, risk factors, and mortality relating to urinary tract infection (UTI) in a postoperative recovery unit.
Materials and methods: A prospective study was carried out from 1998 through 2003 of all patients who stayed longer than 48 hours in a 12-bed critical care unit and who were followed to 48 hours following discharge from the unit. A descriptive statistics were compiled and univariate and multiple variable Cox regression analyses were performed for episodes of nosocomial UTI.
Results: The incidence density for UTI associated with bladder catheterization was 8.4 cases per 1000 patient-days. The pathogens most frequently isolated in patients with bacteriuria were Candida albicans and Escherichia coli. The pathogen most frequently isolated in UTI in trauma patients was E. coli, whereas C. albicans was most often found in the postoperative patients. Multivariable analysis identified 3 risk factors: degree of severity on admission, duration of catheterization, and presence of diabetes mellitus. The mortality risk in patients with bladder catheterization and UTI was 2.20.
Conclusions: UTIs can have serious consequences and are responsible for excess mortality. The real importance of UTI is unknown and is probably underestimated despite the publication of many studies. We found that the UTI microbiology findings were markedly different for the trauma and postoperative cohorts in our department.