Estudio clínico y microbiológico de la infección urinaria asociada a catéter, en los servicios de medicina interna de un hospital universitario venezolano

Pedro Quijada-Martínez, Ana Flores-Carrero, Indira Labrador, María Araque

To determine the clinical and microbiological characteristics of catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CA-UTI) in patients admitted to the Internal Medicine services of the Hospital Universitario de Los Andes (HULA), Mérida, Venezuela and to establish the clonal distribution of multi-resistant Enterobacteriaceae that produce this infection. Seventy-three adult patients with bladder catheterization were studied between January and July 2015. The microbiological processing of the urine samples was performed using conventional and automatized methods. Extended- spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) and carbapenemase were detected phenotypically. Clonal classification was determined using repetitive element sequence-based PCR. A total of 53.4% of the patients were male, and the average age was 50.6 years. The average time the catheter remained in the patient was 10.9 ± 6.5 days and 54.8% of patients had positive urine cultures. Yeasts were the main etiological agent (44.7%), followed by enterobacteria (29.8%). Enterobacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii produced ESBL and carbapenemase associated with other resistance markers. Two clonal groups were identified in multi-resistant Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae strains that circulated in the shock trauma unit in the adult emergency department. The findings in this study show the need to adopt strict criteria justifying the use of bladder catheterization and its duration, as well as the implementation of programs to prevent and control the spread of multi-resistant bacterial clones in patients with CA-UTI in the HULA Internal Medicine department.