Maintenance of indwelling urinary catheters with a novel polyhexanide-based solution: user experience.

BACKGROUND

Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) can significantly affect patients' quality of life and increase healthcare costs.

AIMS: This study aimed to capture patients' and nurses' experience of catheter maintenance using a polyhexanide-based solution (PS) in everyday practice.

METHODS

Retrospective analysis of data was collected for a product evaluation. PS was used twice a week for five weeks.

FINDINGS: The study included 42 patients, 30 (71%) men and 12 women (29%). After five weeks of rinsing catheters with PS, nine patients reported no or decreased frequency of CAUTI, eight a better quality of life, eight reduced blockage, seven a decrease in odour and five fewer catheter changes. Three patients reported no benefit from PS use. Nurses reported that fewer visits were needed and consumption of disposables was lower.

CONCLUSIONS

User experiences suggest that, as a novel means of catheter maintenance, PS has the potential to reduce catheter-associated complications such as CAUTI, improve quality of life and reduce healthcare costs.