An assessment of antiseptic bladder washout solutions using a physical model of the catheterized bladder

The antibacterial activity of six antiseptic solutions formulated for use in bladder washout procedures has been examined in a simple model of the catheterized bladder. The experiments were carried out under conditions which examined the efficacy of the formulations against organisms that had recently contaminated the bladder urine. At cell densities of 10(4) cfu ml-1 all the solutions tested proved effective in eliminating bacteria from the bladder urine. Under conditions simulating heavy contamination (10(7)-10(8) cfu ml-1) however, only mandelic acid (1% w/v) eliminated the range of bacterial species commonly responsible for catheter-associated urinary tract infection.