One percent chlorhexidine for meatal cleaning prior to urinary catheter insertion significantly reduces(by 74%) the risk of catheter associated urinary tract infection. The study was a multi-center, stepped-wedged randomized controlled trial recently published in Lancet Infectious Diseases, available here.Wow!
Now the hard part will be getting nursing staff to reliably use chlorhexidine for meatal cleaning prior to urinary catheter insertion. This will require education, human factors engineering (i.e. making chlorhexidine the default product in the catheter insertion kit), audits and feedback.
Too good to be true?
Perhaps not.
