[Adherence of bacteria to various urethral catheters and occurrence of catheter-induced urethritis]

To prevent the occurrence of nosocomial urinary tract infections among patients with indwelling urinary catheters, we compared commercially available catheters for the degree of irritation to surrounding mucosa and bacterial adherence. The hydrogel-coated catheter was found to be superior to the teflon-coated or silicone-coated catheters, since it had the lowest degree of bacterial adherence and mucosal irritation among these products. These findings suggest that the incidence of catheter-induced urinary tract infection would be lowered by the use of hydrogel-coated catheter, and recommend their use for patients requiring long-term urinary catheterization.