Obtaining Urine Specimens in Young Children: Bag vs. Catheter

Don’t rely on bag-obtained specimens alone.

Urine collection methods in young children who are not toilet trained are difficult and unreliable. In this prospective cohort study, researchers from two emergency departments in France collected urine specimens by bag and then by catheter in 192 children (age, <3 years; 72% girls) who had unexplained fever and positive urinalysis results from bag-obtained specimens.

Catheter-obtained specimens were positive (defined as ≥10³ CFU/mL, 1 species only) in 53% of children, negative in 38%, and contaminated in 8%. Corresponding results for bag-obtained specimens were 48% positive, 21% negative, and 30% contaminated. Compared with results from catheter-obtained specimens, bag-obtained specimen cultures had a false-positive rate of 7.5% and a false…

Reviewing Author

Howard Bauchner, MD

Disclosures

Grant / research supportHuman Resources and Services Administration; NIH; NIH-NHLBI; USDA; GlaxoSmithKline

Editorial boardsArchives of Disease in Childhood (Editor-in-Chief)

Howard Bauchner, MD

Disclosures

Grant / research supportHuman Resources and Services Administration; NIH; NIH-NHLBI; USDA; GlaxoSmithKline

Editorial boardsArchives of Disease in Childhood (Editor-in-Chief)

Obtaining Urine Specimens in Young Children: Bag vs. Catheter

Topics

Reviewing Author