#0430

Risk of cystoscopy-related urinary tract infections with Pseudomonas aeruginosa

B. Kim¹, J. Kang¹, J. Chung¹, Y. Ha¹, S. Choi¹, H. Kim¹, T. Kim¹, E. Yoo¹, T. Kwon¹, P. Song²

¹School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Urology, Daegu, Korea (Republic of)
²College of Medicine, Yeungnam University, Urology, Daegu, Korea (Republic of)

Introduction:

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a gram-negative bacterium commonly encountered in hospital-acquired infections, often exhibits antibiotic resistance. Remarkably, it forms biofilms that adhere to the surfaces of medical devices, significantly hindering their effective removal during cleaning. Therefore, P. aeruginosa infections require special attention, and implementing appropriate disinfection and infection control procedures is essential. On July 2022, due to an increase in patients with urinary tract infections (UTIs) following cystoscopy procedures, an epidemiological investigation was conducted at our tertiary hospital.

Material and methods:

From May to July 2022, out of 353 patients who underwent cystoscopy, six patients complained of febrile UTIs following the cystoscopy. They were admitted to the urology department of our hospital via the emergency room. Among the six hospitalized patients, P. aeruginosa was found in the urine culture tests of four. During the epidemiological investigation, no changes were observed in factors such as the reprocessing procedures for endoscopic equipment. Therefore, we performed microbiological tests on all environmental samples related to the endoscopic equipment and cleaning processes.

Results:

We found P. aeruginosa in dual enzymatic detergent (EmPower®), used during the endoscope cleaning process. After modifying the disinfectant and cleaning process, the epidemiological investigation concluded and no further bacterial growth was observed in subsequent microbiological tests.