BACKGROUNDThe aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of urinary tract infections (UTIs), identify the most frequently isolated pathogens associated with UTIs, and evaluate the antimicrobial susceptibility of these pathogens in spinal cord injury (SCI) patients.
MATERIAL and METHODSA total of 91 patient charts were retrospectively evaluated in this study. The demographic data of these patients, length of hospital stay, SCI data, mode of bladder emptying, number of UTI episodes, microorganisms isolated by urine culture, and antimicrobial susceptibility tests were recorded.
RESULTSOf the 91 SCI patients, 53 were males and 38 were females, with a mean age of 45.29 (±17.87) years. A total of 47 UTI episodes were recorded in 38 SCI patients, nine of whom had experienced two episodes. The prevalence of UTI was 41.7% (38/91). The most frequently isolated pathogen was Escherichia coli (57.4%). The antimicrobial agents were most frequently susceptible were gentamicin (72.3%), piperacillin/ tazobactam (57.4%), and meropenem (48.9%).
CONCLUSIONThe UTI prevalence in patients with SCI was considerably high. E. coli was the most common uropathogen, and gentamicin was the most frequently used antimicrobial agent.
Keywords: Spinal cord injury, urinary tract infection, epidemiology
INTRODUCTIONThe risk of urinary tract infections (UTIs) is higher in patients with a spinal cord injury (SCI) because of a lack of normal physiological urination resulting from neurogenic bladder in most patients. UTIs are considerably more frequent because of urinary catheter use, residual urine in the bladder due to incomplete emptying, renal stones, obstructed urinary outflow, dysregulation of the autonomic nervous system, and an unbalanced bladder evacuation. These are significant causes of morbidity and mortality (1, 2). Although UTIs occur in 22% of patients with acute SCI in the first 50 days, the UTI prevalence is approximately 20% in patients with chronic SCI (3). UTIs were detected in 60% of SCI patients in a rehabilitation center study in Thailand (4). A mortality rate of nearly 34% is reported in patients with SCI due to urinary sepsis, and this is the second most frequent cause of death in patients with SCI (5, 6).