Maintenance of sterility in urinary drainage bags.

When the outlet tube of urinary drainage sets was kept full of 3 per cent hydrogen peroxide at all times, no evidence of bacterial growth in the urine of the collection bag was noted in at least 92.0 per cent of the patients and 93.3 per cent of the drainage periods in a group of 60 patients and 75 drainage periods. One patient had a positive urinary drainage bag culture and a positive bladder culture as a result of improper disconnection of the catheter, and four patients had bacterial growth from urinary drainage bag samples, two of which were possibly due to a faulty culture technique and one of which may have resulted from contamination of amphoteracin B irrigating solution. Hydrogen peroxide, 3 per cent, appears to approach 100 per cent effectiveness as an antibacterial barrier. Only one patient of 60 or 1.7 per cent had a urinary tract infection develop which was related to the improper handling of the drainage set.