Purple Urine Bags

Abstract

Purple urine drainage bags were found in 7 of 71 chronically catheterized elderly women. The purple staining of the bags is due to a violet discoloration (indirubin) of the plastic of the catheter bag and fine blue crystals of indigo in the urine. The colors are formed from the substrate indoxyl sulfate (indican) and all 7 patients had bacteria in the urine that would produce blue colonies on agar enriched with the urine (filter sterilized) of the patients involved. Organisms identified were Providencia or Klebsiella species. Indican excretion was higher in patients with purple urinary catheter bags than in controls.

Uroscopic rainbow: modern matula medicine

“…Indican is derived from bacterial oxidation of tryptophan by the bacterial flora of the gut. 34 Purplish-blue urine has long been described with malabsorption and bacterial overgrowth syndromes and classically Hartnup disease, a rare specific defect of tryptophan transport. 3 Intestinal stasis attributable to constipation may be an explanation for the high prevalence of purple urine bags in elderly nursing home patients.…”

“…Bacterial fermentation of indican by organisms such as as Klebsiella and Providencia species, well known producers of blue colonies on urine enriched agar, appear to be the final necessary pathophysiological step in the purple urine bag syndrome. 34 …”

Síndrome de la bolsa de orina púrpura: un fenómeno inusual y muy llamativo

“…La gran mayoría de las publicaciones son reportes de casos clínicos, no existiendo estudios con tamaños muestrales significativos. Se estima una prevalencia de 9,8% en pacientes con catéter urinario permanente 10,11 . No hay datos acerca de su prevalencia en Chile.…”

Purple urine bag syndrome in benign prostatic hyperplasia patient

“…Dealer et al study stats the incidence of purple bag syndrome mentioned about 9.8% in institutionalized patients mostly bedridden, cognitively impaired, and constipated females but it very rarely seen in daily practice and very few literature is present [7,8].…”