Reduced Infection Risk with Condom Catheters

Randomized trial shows combined risk of infection, death nearly five times higher with indwelling catheters

FRIDAY, July 14 (HealthDay News) -- Use of a condom catheter is associated with a lower risk for infection and death in older men than an indwelling catheter, according to a randomized study published in the July issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Sanjay Saint, M.D., M.P.H., from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues conducted the prospective, controlled trial that included 75 hospitalized men aged 40 and older requiring catheterization.

Adverse outcomes were delayed and occurred less often in the condom group compared with the indwelling catheter group. In addition, the combined risk of bacteriuria, symptomatic urinary tract infection, or death in patients without dementia was 4.84 times higher in the indwelling catheter group. Patients also reported that condom catheters were more comfortable and less painful.

"This randomized trial found that the use of a condom catheter instead of an indwelling catheter in male inpatients was associated with a lower risk of bacteriuria, symptomatic urinary tract infection, or death," the authors write. "Although awaiting confirmatory trials, these findings should encourage clinicians to select a condom rather than an indwelling catheter where possible for the millions of men requiring a urinary collection device."

Abstract
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