Ureteral Stents and Foley Catheters-Associated Urinary Tract Infections: The Role of Coatings and Materials in Infection Prevention

• Published in: Antibiotics Vol. 3; no. 1; pp. 87 - 97
• Main Authors: Lo, Joey, Lange, Dirk, Chew, Ben H
• Format: Journal Article Book Review
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 10-03-2014; MDPI
• Subjects: catheter; Review; ureteral stent; urinary tract infection; catheter; urinary tract infection; ureteral stent
• ISSN: 2079-6382; 2079-6382
• DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics3010087

Urinary tract infections affect many patients, especially those who are admitted to hospital and receive a bladder catheter for drainage. Catheter associated urinary tract infections are some of the most common hospital infections and cost the health care system billions of dollars. Early removal is one of the mainstays of prevention as 100% of catheters become colonized. Patients with ureteral stents are also affected by infection and antibiotic therapy alone may not be the answer. We will review the current evidence on how to prevent infections of urinary biomaterials by using different coatings, new materials, and drug eluting technologies to decrease infection rates of ureteral stents and catheters.