UK National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment Programme.

The results suggest that the use of silver alloy indwelling catheters for catheterising hospitalised adults short-term reduces the risk of catheter acquired urinary tract infection. Further economic evaluation is required to confirm that the reduction of infection compensates for the increased cost of silver alloy catheters.Catheters impregnated with antibiotics are also beneficial in reducing bacteriuria in hospitalised adults catheterised for less than one week but the data were too few to draw conclusions about those catheterised for longer. There was not enough evidence to suggest whether or not any standard catheter was better than another in terms of reducing the risk of urinary tract infection in hospitalised adults catheterised short-term. Siliconised catheters may be less likely to cause urethral side effects in men; however, this result should be interpreted with some caution as the trials were small and the outcome definitions and specific catheters compared varied.

Silver alloy-coated catheters were not associated with a statistically significant reduction in symptomatic CAUTI, and are considerably more expensive. Nitrofurazone-impregnated catheters reduced the risk of symptomatic CAUTI and bacteriuria, although the magnitude of reduction was low and hence may not be clinically important. However, they are more expensive than standard catheters. They are also more likely to cause discomfort than standard catheters.

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The results suggest that the use of silver alloy indwelling catheters for catheterizing hospitalized adults short-term reduces the risk of catheter acquired urinary tract infection. Further economic evaluation is required to confirm that the reduction of infection compensates for the increased cost of silver alloy catheters. Catheters impregnated with antibiotics are also beneficial in reducing bacteriuria in hospitalized adults catheterized for <1 week but the data were too few to draw conclusions about those catheterized for longer. There was not enough evidence to suggest whether or not any standard catheter was better than another in terms of reducing the risk of urinary tract infection in hospitalized adults catheterized short-term. Siliconized catheters may be less likely to cause urethral side effects in men; however, this result should be interpreted with some caution as the trials were small and the outcome definitions and specific catheters compared varied.