Frequency of Urinary Tract Infection Among Patients Undergoing Implant Fixation for Acute Trauma

This study aims to determine the frequency of urinary tract infection (UTI), identify the isolated bacteria, and assess antibiotic sensitivity in patients undergoing orthopedic implant fixation for hip fractures.

After ethical approval from the institutional review board, this retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted at the Orthopedic Surgery Department of Dow University Hospital Karachi from June 2022 to June 2023. Through non-probability consecutive sampling, 186 patients above 16 years of age, of either gender, presenting with hip fractures such as intracapsular or extracapsular fractures, who underwent surgical fixation, were included in the study. A urine sample for urinalysis of these patients was sent on admission. Patients who presented with open fractures or those treated with conservative management were excluded from the study. The fracture diagnosis was confirmed on radiographs. All other relevant baseline investigations were also performed before surgery, per protocol, and urine-detailed and cultured reports were followed. In addition, each patient was asked about common symptoms of UTI before surgery and then diagnosed with UTI on positive urine culture and sensitivity (CS).

Out of 186 hip fracture patients, 98 (52.7%) were males and 88 (47.3%) were females, with a mean age of 61.03 ± 16.43 (16-96) years. Pre-operative UTI symptoms were reported by 79 patients, including dysuria (16; 20.3%), polyuria (19; 24.0%), and burning (44; 55.7%). UTI was diagnosed on culture and sensitivity report in 65 (34.9%) patients with Escherichia coli as commonly diagnosed bacteria 35 (53.8%), followed by Enterococcus 8 (12.4%), Klebsiella 7 (10.9%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa 3 (4.7%), and Acinetobacter 2 (3.1%) patients. E. coli was sensitive to amikacin, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, ampicillin, cefixime, ceftriaxone, cefuroxime, ciprofloxacin, colistin, cotrimoxazole, fosfomycin, gentamycin, levofloxacin, meropenem, nitrofurantoin, polymyxin B, and piperacillin-tazobactam.

Urinary tract infection is common in patients undergoing orthopedic implant fixation for hip fractures, which can lead to potentially serious outcomes. Overall, hygiene, prompt treatment, and standard protocol should be utilized to treat those infected and minimize the spread.