EVALUATION OF ROUTINE SURVEILLANCE URINE CULTURES IN REHABILITATION WARD ADMISSIONS - A PROSPECTIVE-STUDY

Objective: To assess the value of routine surveillance urine cultures and the prevalence of bacteriuria in the younger disabled patient subg roup admitted to the younger disabled unit (YDU). Most of these patien ts do require some form of assisted urinary drainage. Design: A prospe ctive study of 50 consecutive patients admitted to the YDU for short-t erm rehabilitation were screened by obtaining relevant clinical detail s and urine specimens at weekly intervals. Interventions: Relevant cli nical details were retrieved from case notes and minimum of two urine specimens were collected for culture from each patient. Main outcome m easures: Presence of positive urine culture, sensitivity and clinical symptoms were recorded. Results: Out of 50 patients studied, 27 were o n some form of urinary drainage. Urine culture and sensitivity results were positive in 35 patients. Cultures were predominantly mixed growt h or coliform organisms. Conclusions: Majority of patients were admitt ed with asymptomatic bacteriuria. There was no evidence to suggest tha t these short-term rehabilitation patients acquired nosocomial uropath ogens and routine surveillance urine cultures were not particularly us eful in this setting.