Urinary tract infection in acute spinal cord injury

Preservation of renal function and prevention of recurrent urinary tract infections is the ultimate goal of any method of neurogenic bladder management in spinal cord injury patients. METHOD--The hospital courses of fifty such patients admitted to our Rehabilitation Department from August 1989 to August 1990 were studied according to age, gender, spinal cord injury level, method of bladder drainage on admission and upon discharge, type of urinary tract infections and results of bladder management were documented. RESULTS--Forty-five men and ten women were studied. Mean age of males was forty and females, forty-two. The commonest cause of injury was road traffic accident followed by accidents at work place. Fifty-three percent had cervical cord injuries, thirteen percent thoracolumbar and sixteen percent lumbo sacral injuries. Seventy-eight percent had an indwelling foley catheter upon admission. Upon discharge eighty-two percent of spinal cord injury patients were able to void with/without tapping and compression. There were a total of one hundred and forty-three urinary tract infections in our study group. All positive urine cultures had greater than or equal to 100,000 CFU/ml. The commonest organisms causing urinary tract infection were Klebsiella pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus mirabilis. CONCLUSION--For bacteria to produce disease in the urinary tract, they must gain access and colonise the uroepithelium, induce inflammation and tissue damage. The indwelling catheter provides a direct access to the uroepithelium, making bacteriuria and subsequent infection inevitable. Impaired voiding and sensation in spinal cord injury patients provides an excellent reservoir for the multiplication of bacteria, tissue invasion and recurrent urinary tract infection. Hence current methods of neurogenic bladder management have to focus on attaining a catheter-free status as soon as possible; relevant antibiotic therapy and careful attention to individual urinary tract problems to reduce morbidity and improve on spinal cord injury patient's future. Although spinal cord injury patients are described, the material covered is applicable to any type of neurogenic bladder dysfunction.