Comparison of urine bag-changing regimens in elderly catheterised patients

Daily and weekly bag-changing regimens were compared in 12 elderly catheterised patients with reference to their clinical condition, leakage or blockage of the catheters, and the bacteriological state of the urine. Latex Foley catheters were used for the first 3 months and silastic catheters for the second 3 months of study. All patients had bacteriuria throughout the study, and the average number of bacterial species isolated from each specimen was 3.8. There were no significant clinical or bacteriological differences between the patients on daily and those on weekly bag change. Although significantly more episodes of pyrexia were recorded during latex than during silastic catheterisation there was no correlation between these episodes and the bacteriological state of the urine. Of the 9 courses of antibacterial treatment given during the 6 months, 7 were for indications other than urinary tract infection. There were no episodes of acute pyelonephritis. There were 148 episodes of pyrexia unrelated to any clinical symptoms or signs. Only 2 were treated with antibiotics; the remainder subsided without treatment.