Study Reports StatLock Reduces Urinary Tract Infections

LOS ANGELES -- The StatLock Foley catheter securement device reduced catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) by 45 percent in a prospective, randomized, multicenter study, according to an abstract presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA).

The presentation was made by the study's principal investigator, Rabih Darouiche, MD, professor and director of the Center for Prostheses Infection at Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, Texas). The conference was held April 9-12 in Los Angeles.

The study compared StatLock securement of indwelling urinary catheters to traditional methods for securing such catheters. The traditional methods included tape, a Velcro strap, the Cath-Secure device, and no securement. The study involved 118 patients with spinal cord injury and four medical facilities over a more than two-year period.

"These results are clinically very relevant," Darouiche said. "Most of the approaches to preventing CAUTIs that have been tried previously have employed an antimicrobial strategy. Because those methods have yielded conflicting results or proven to be ineffectual, it made sense to look elsewhere for effective prevention. The StatLock device, by possibly reducing both tissue damage and shear-forces on bacterial biofilm, has now been demonstrated to have a substantial clinical impact on the most prevalent of all device-related nosocomial infections, CAUTIs."

"The results of this study are consistent with two previous pilot studies, both of which suggested that proper securement of Foley catheters could reduce CAUTIs," said Steve Bierman, MD, the company's founder and inventor of StatLock. "With this study, StatLock Foley has proven to be the most clinically effective and cost-effective method of preventing CAUTIs yet discovered."

Nosocomial infections, or infections that originate in hospitals, affect about 2 million patients in the U.S. per year, and result in an estimated 90,000 deaths. CAUTIs are the leading nosocomial infection, accounting for about 35 percent of all cases. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) has made reduction of nosocomial infections one of its key National Patient Safety Goals for 2005. JCAHO's infection control standards specifically require organizations to address CAUTIs.

Traditionally, methods such as systemic antibiotics and introduction of antimicrobial agents into the bladder have been used to prevent CAUTIs. These measures have produced little or no reduction in the overall rate of infection, however, and have also been associated with adverse events and possible antibiotic resistance.

In the study presented at the SHEA meeting, adult patients with spinal cord injuries were randomly selected to have their indwelling urinary catheters secured either with the StatLock Foley device or a traditional method. CAUTIs were diagnosed in only 13.3 percent of the experimental group (StatLock), compared to 24.1 percent of the control group patients. This constitutes a 45 percent reduction of CAUTIs in patients whose catheters were secured with StatLock.

Researchers concluded that the "anti-infective property of the StatLock securing device could be due to less mucosal irritation and perhaps reduced disruption of the biofilm surrounding the catheter."

StatLock is used in more than 2,000 healthcare facilities worldwide, including Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and the Cleveland Clinic. Custom StatLock designs are available for peripheral IVs, central venous, PICC, Foley and arterial catheters, as well as virtually all other medical catheters and tubes.

Venetec International is the acknowledged leader in the $2 billion catheter securement market. The company has agreements for StatLock usage with many healthcare organizations, including Novation, Premier, Inc., and the Veterans Health Administration. StatLock devices are included in safety infusion systems made by Baxter Healthcare, B. Braun, Arrow International, BD (Becton Dickinson), C.R. Bard, Cook, Inc., Kendall/Tyco, and others.

Source: Venetec International