Bladder washouts in the management of long-term catheters

Urinary Tract Infection in Parkinson’s Disease

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common precipitant of acute neurological deterioration in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and a leading cause of delirium, functional decline, falls, and hospitalization. Various clinical features of PD including autonomic dysfunction and altered urodynamics, frailty and cognitive impairment, and the need for bladder catheterization contribute to an increased risk of UTI. Sepsis due to UTI is a feared consequence of untreated or undertreated UTI and a leading cause of morbidity in PD. Emerging research suggests that immune-mediated brain injury may underlie the pathogenesis of UTI-induced deterioration of PD symptoms. Existing strategies to prevent UTI in patients with PD include use of topical estrogen, prophylactic supplements, antibiotic bladder irrigation, clean catheterization techniques, and prophylactic oral antibiotics, while bacterial interference and vaccines/immunostimulants directed against common UTI pathogens are potentially emerging strategies that are currently under investigation. Future research is needed to mitigate the deleterious effects of UTI in PD.

Efficacy of bladder irrigation in preventing urinary tract infections associated with short-term catheterization in comatose patients: A randomized controlled clinical trial

BACKGROUND

Bladder irrigation can be performed to prevent catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI), but its efficacy has been not reported in short-term indwelling urinary catheterization. This clinical trial aimed to examine the efficacy of bladder irrigation with normal saline solution in preventing CAUTI in comatose patients admitted to intensive care units.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Eligible patients were randomized to the experimental group or control group. The experimental group received daily bladder irrigation with 450 cc sterile normal saline, in 3 150-mL doses, for 3 consecutive days. Data on signs of CAUTI, including urine culture, axillary body temperature (primary outcomes), and other urine and blood parameters (secondary outcomes) were obtained at baseline and 5 days later.

RESULTS

Results of group comparisons and logistic regression analysis that controlled for fluid intake showed that the risk of CAUTI decreased by 99% in the experimental group compared with the control group (odds ratio, 0.01; P < .001). Additional findings indicated a decrease in axillary body temperature and improvements in urine appearance, urinary red cells and white cells, and erythrocyte sedimentation rates and white-cell counts in the blood following bladder irrigation.

CONCLUSION

Daily bladder irrigation with normal saline during 3 days demonstrated efficacy in preventing CAUTI in comatose patients.

Female nurses' sensitivity to male genitalia-related care in mainland China

AIMS

To discover the latent psychosocial construct of female nurses' sensitivity to male genitalia-related care in the context of sexual conservativeness.

BACKGROUND

Many nursing activities involve direct exposure or contact with male external genitalia. In the sexually conservative culture and the predominance of female nurses, this area is the subject of continuing interest and investigation.

DESIGN

Methodological research design.

METHODS

An item pool related to male genitalia-related care was generated through a panel of experts and then reduced to a short form questionnaire, the Female Nurses' Sensitivity to Male Genitalia Related Care scale. Using data from a purposive sample of 588 female nurses, the structure of the questionnaire was examined using structural equation modelling. The validity was examined against existing scales.

RESULTS

The 13-item Female Nurses' Sensitivity to Male Genitalia Related Care scale has a two-factor structure with high internal consistency (α = 0·87) and test-retest reliability of 0·90. Nearly all model fit measures reach the criteria of being an acceptable model fit except chi-squared statistics. Scores on Female Nurses' Sensitivity to Male Genitalia Related Care can be best predicted by that of brief Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale, Embarrassability Scale and Situational Susceptibility to Embarrassment Scale.

CONCLUSIONS

The anxiety of projecting a positive image and the pursuit of sexual propriety may underpin female nurses' sensitivity to male genitalia-related care. This trait can be measured by the 13-item female nurses' sensitivity-male genitalia-related care scale with satisfactory psychometric properties including internal consistency, reliability, content validity and construct validity.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

Particular attention shall be paid to the negative effects of social rules or norms including sexual propriety rules over (female) nurses' perceptions, attitudes and behaviours. Strengthening nursing education in this regard is important to overcome negative effects on female nurses of male genitalia-related care.

Preventing and managing catheter-associated urinary tract infections

Since the Foley catheter was introduced in the 1930s it has become one of the primary sources of hospital acquired infections and long term urinary catheters used in community based patients account for some 4% of community nurses' time. This burden is likely to increase given the projected rise in life expectancy and size of the ageing population. This article considers the current literature around indwelling urinary catheterization and its management with a focus on long term catheterization in the community. The authors discuss contemporary strategies to manage or prevent CAUTI that are based on best practice guidelines. However, it is clear from the dearth of empirical evidence that there is an urgent need to establish well constructed research studies to investigate the prevalence of long term urinary catheterization in the community and the prevention and management of CAUTI.

pH testing in catheter maintenance: the clinical debate

The pH of urine is widely recognized as being a major contributory factor in urinary catheter encrustation. What is less widely appreciated is the range of factors that affect the pH of urine, and which therefore affect the reliability and validity of urine pH testing. This article examines the validity of various urinary pH testing methods and discusses the theoretical and practical implications of the uncertainty surrounding their practical value.

Using bladder instillations to manage indwelling catheters

Indwelling urinary catheters are commonly used in both acute and primary care settings but patients often experience problems with blockage of the catheter as a result of encrustation. Bladder instillations of differing solutions are used in an attempt to prevent and treat this problem of encrustation. This article looks at some of the issues surrounding the use and methods of these solutions. Based on an audit performed by a group of continence clinical nurse specialists in five areas of the UK, results of a questionnaire sent to acute and primary care nursing staff in 2003 are presented and discussed. The questionnaire covered a variety of clinical issues involved in performing bladder instillations and the results show that there is a wide variation of practice across the UK. The authors conclude that there are issues pertaining to bladder instillations which warrant further work.

Developing alternative devices to the long-term urinary catheter for draining urine from the bladder

The self-retaining urinary catheter is used for long-term drainage of urine from the bladder only as a last resort because of serious associated complications, yet it remains a routine method for managing older and disabled patients with loss of bladder control. Blockage of the catheter from calcified deposits within its lumen is a common occurrence, obstructing the passage of urine and causing an urgent, unpredictable problem for patients, carers and the nursing staff. The need for further research on the subject has been recognized for many years. The SuPort Project aimed to develop an alternative suprapubic urine collection system. This report outlines the approach adopted towards the design and selection of the novel device, the production problems that ensued and the small clinical trial of a modified prototype.

An audit of problems associated with urinary catheter withdrawal

Long-term catheterisation is associated with many complications, including urinary tract infections which may lead to encrustation and catheter blockage. Current management of catheters susceptible to frequent blocking is to attempt to prolong catheter life by using bladder maintenance solutions or to change catheters proactively by identifying a characteristic blocking pattern for the patient. However, catheter removal is associated with a number of problems. This article describes an audit conducted in one trust to identify the types of catheter material associated with removal difficulties. All-silicone catheters appeared to have a higher incidence of reported problems. The formation of a 'cuff' in all-silicone catheters when the catheter balloon fails to deflate to its original shape has been investigated as an important factor in difficult removal. The audit also examined what action was taken when nurses were unable to remove a catheter.

Optimization of debris removal during bladder irrigation

Debris build-up within the bladder is one of the main problems encountered by patients undergoing long term catheterization. One of the methods of ameliorating this is to wash out the bladder at regular intervals. In this paper, an alternative method of bladder irrigation is investigated experimentally. The effectiveness of several possible catheter designs has been examined, together with other relevant variables such as the proximity and alignment of the tube tip to the debris and the irrigation flow rate. Results show that debris removal is very sensitive to tube design, with best designs achieving almost complete removal and the worst practically none. The proprietary continuous irrigation catheter used was particularly poor for the type of debris used. Removal is insensitive to the distance of the tube tip from the bladder base up to a limiting value, above which it reduces rapidly. Where misalignment causes the inlet jet to miss the debris, removal rates are very low. Increasing flow rate increases removal up to a limiting value, above which it remains constant. Although the results show the general trends, to optimize the system requires further understanding of the detailed flow patterns within the bladder. A theoretical study using computational fluid dynamics is thus being undertaken.