Open Access
Purple urine bag syndrome: A case report and review of literature
Author(s) -
SA Yaqub,
S Mohkum,
KN Mukhtar
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
indian journal of nephrology/indian journal of nephrology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.317
H-Index - 24
eISSN - 1998-3662
pISSN - 0971-4065
DOI - 10.4103/0971-4065.109442
Subject(s) - indirubin , urine , medicine , urinary system , constipation , indigo , antibiotics , gastroenterology , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , art , visual arts
Purple urine bag syndrome (PUBS) is an infrequent condition, seen mostly in elderly female patients, characterized by an intense purple discoloration of contents of urine bag following long-term indwelling urinary catheterization. The purple discoloration is most often due to the presence of indigo and indirubin pigments which are metabolites of tryptophan. Urinary bacteria with indoxyl sulphatase activity metabolize indoxyl sulphate to produce indigo and indirubin, particularly in alkaline urine. We report an elderly woman with a urinary tract infection and constipation who presented with PUBS. The purple urine disappeared after antibiotic therapy and change of the urine bag. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of PUBS reported from this region.