Morbidity of urodynamic testing in patients with spinal cord injury: is antibiotic prophylaxis necessary?

Abstract

Prospective, non-randomized study. To assess the incidence of urinary tract infection after urodynamics in patients with spinal cord injury. Outpatient clinic of a university hospital in Germany. Urinary tract infection and clinical symptoms in 109 consecutive outpatients with spinal cord injury following urodynamic evaluation were studied. Data from 72 patients were evaluable. Of these, seven patients (9.7%) developed a significant urinary tract infection. Five of these were symptomatic. Pre-existing asymptomatic bacteriuria was not associated with a higher risk for post-interventional infection. The technique of the bladder management did not correlate with urinary tract infection rates. In this study, symptomatic urinary tract infections after cystometry were not infrequent. Therefore, it seems that antibiotic prophylaxis cannot be omitted in patients with spinal cord injury undergoing urodynamic investigation.