A urinary catheter is a hollow tube inserted through the urethra into the bladder to empty it of urine. A catheter is commonly inserted into a patient to monitor the patient's urine and/or urine output. It is also inserted into a patient unable to urinate normally due to a medical condition, surgery, or sickness. The most distal part of the urinary tract is the urethra meatus, the most frequent place of insertion of a urinary catheter in a patient, whether male or female. The process of inserting the catheter into a patient is referred to as a catheterization, which is usually performed by a medical clinician, such as a nurse or physician.
Unfortunately, many patients develop a urinary-tract infection (UTI) after a catheterization; referred to as catheter-associated-urinary-tract infections. These “nosocomial” infections are estimated to account for approximately 40%—the majority—of all hospital-acquired infections in the United States. Catheter-associated UTI's drive up health care costs for the patient and hospital because more intensive medical care is needed, including additional medications to treat the infection and in some cases a longer hospital stay to allow the patient to recover. As of October 2008, however, Medicare and Medicaid no longer reimburse healthcare institutions for costs associated with treating hospital-acquired infections. To eliminate or reduce the incidence of catheter-associated UTI's, the medical community is focusing its attention on improving hand hygiene, and sterilization procedures associated with the use of catheters.
Despite the focus on better hygiene and sterilization procedures, catheter-associated-urinary-tract infections are not diminishing, and remain the leading type of disease process acquired while in a hospital, and the most costly nosocomial infection to treat. Such infections are becoming even more alarming as antibiotic-resistant infections increase in hospitals. Further, catheter-associated-urinary-tract infections often go undiagnosed and untreated, which can lead to myriad of life-threatening complications.
Therefore, what is needed is a way to reduce the quantity and incidence of catheter-associated-urinary-tract infections.