Urinary tract infections in the surgical patient

Urinary tract infection (UTI) continues to be a common nosocomial infection. From a 2-year city-county hospital experience, 212 nosocomial UTI were identified in 153 patients from 3747 admissions. Mean age was 54 years; 102 were men. Foley catheterization was an associated factor in 129 patients (84%). UTI was caused by 40 different species of bacteria. In 28 infections (13%), the UTI was polymicrobial. Only nine patients had bacteremia. The bacteriology of the UTI depended on whether the patient had received systemic antibiotics previously during the hospitalization. Prior antibiotic administration increased the probability of Pseudomonas and Serratia as pathogens. Thus, patients that have had antibiotic therapy demonstrate a distribution of pathogens that are different from patients not receiving antibiotics, and a distribution different from the community-acquired UTI. Continued emphasis on the shorter duration and more judicious use of systemic antibiotics for both prophylaxis and therapy is warranted.