Clinical Data of Urine Culture and Antimicrobial Sensitivity Tests according to the Voiding Method over 15 Years in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury

Purpose: To analyze the results of urine cultures and antimicrobial sensitivity tests according to the voiding methods in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) over a 15-year period. Materials and Methods: A total of 1,579 urine culture samples, obtained from January 2000 to December 2014, for 73 SCI patients were analyzed according to the voiding method. We analyzed the following: positive urine culture rate, colony counts, isolated number of organism, major organisms, and antimicrobial sensitivity tests. The voiding methods were categorized into four methods: clean intermittent catheterization (CIC), suprapubic catheterization (SPC), urethral Foley catheter, and spontaneous voiding (SV). Results: Among the 1,579 urine samples, 1,250 (79.2%) were positive. The CIC group showed the lowest rate of bacteriuria (p<0.001), colony counts (p<0.001), and polymicrobial infection (p<0.001). Causative organisms were mostly gram-negative bacteria (86.7%). Pseudomonas aeruginosa (22.7%) was most common pathogen followed by Escherichia coli (22.3%), Klebsiella species (9.5%), Providencia species (4.4%), and Serratia marcescens (4.2%). Major pathogens and antimicrobial sensitivity tests were different according to the voiding method. Conclusions: CIC is the best voiding method to reduce urinary tract infection (UTI) in SCI patients. To treat UTI in in SCI patients, empirical antibiotics can be chosen according to the voiding method based on the reference of our study prior to the availability of antimicrobial sensitivity results.