The Connection Between Endourological Procedures and Occurrence of Urinary Infections

Introduction: Endoscopic surgery and endourological procedures imply the use of special instruments that are introduced into the urinary system through the urethra and percutaneous techniques that allow ante grade access to the urinary tract. The risk of urinary tract infection after endourological procedures and the use of antibiotic prophylaxis for these procedures is a question about which there is no unique opinion. Goal: The objective of this study was to determine the connection between endourological procedures and occurrence of urinary infections and to analyze the risk factors of urinary infection for patients who were hospitalized at the Urology Clinic of the Clinical Center University of Sarajevo (CCUS). Material and methods: The research was conducted as a prospective study on a sample of 208 patients of both genders, who were hospitalized at the Urology Clinic of the CCUS and to whom one of endourological procedures was indicated either for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. All patients were clinically examined prior to endoscopic procedures and after the treatment attention was focused on the symptoms of urinary tract infections. Results: Analysis of the presence of postoperative bacteriuria shows that it has been more common in men or in 48 cases (28.1%) compared to women with 8 cases (21.6%) (p>0.05). Preoperative catheterization was statistically significantly more present in patients who have had a postoperative bacteriuria (16 or 28.6%) compared to those without bacteriuria (8 or 5.3%) (p<0.05). Analysis of the average duration of postoperative catheterization shows that patients with postoperative bacteriuria had longer duration of postoperative cauterization of 1.97±0.14 days (range 1-20 days) compared to those without postoperative bacteriuria with 1.4±0.4 days (range 0-5 days) and with a statistically significant difference (p<0.05). Antibiotic prophylaxis in relation to the occurrence of postoperative bacteriuria did not show a statistically significant difference (p> 0.05). Analysis of the correlation coefficient indicates that a statistically significant effect on the occurrence of postoperative bacteriuria have preoperative bacteriuria, duration of postoperative catheterization and duration of hospital stay, as well as the total duration of hospitalization before and after endourological treatment (p<0.05). Conclusion: It is important to emphasize that the endourological procedures are safe procedures in terms of urinary tract infections. This study should lay pathway to establishment of guidelines for the application of antibiotic prophylaxis in endourological procedures. This would standardize the perioperative use of antibiotics, taking into account the local prevalence of pathogens and antibiotic resistance, but keeping the individual approach to each patient, considering all risk factors for the development of urinary infection after endourological procedures..