INFECTED URINE AS A RISK FACTOR FOR POSTPROSTATECTOMY WOUND-INFECTION

OBJECTIVE: To study the relation of preoperative infected urine and postprostatectomy wound infection in patients with and without indwelling bladder catheters. DESIGN: Patients undergoing prostatectomy were evaluated for the presence of infected urine prior to prostatectomy and postoperative wound infection. They were further divided into patients with indwelling urinary catheter and catheter-free patients. All had received antibiotic prophylaxis. PATIENTS: One hundred fifty consecutive patients undergoing open prostatectomy-mean age was 67 years; 100 patients with an indwelling catheter for a mean period of 50 days; 50 catheter-free patients. RESULTS: Wound infection was found in 19 of 81 (23.5%) and in 6 of 69 (8.7%) patients with infected and sterile urine, respectively (p = .028). In patients with indwelling catheters prior to operation, wound infection was 22.4% when urine was infected and 8.3% when it was not. In patients without catheters, infected urine was associated with 40% of wound infections, as compared with 8.9% of wound infections in patients with sterile urine. Organisms obtained from infected wound and urine were identical in 84% of cases. These results were obtained despite antibiotic prophylaxis. CONCLUSIONS: Wound infection has been demonstrated to be a postprostatectomy complication directly related to the presence of urinary infection at surgery; thus, elective prostatectomy should be deferred until urine becomes sterile.