The relevance of urinary sampling methods in patients with indwelling Foley catheters.

The relevance of different urinary sampling methods in male patients with indwelling catheters was studied. There was good agreement between the bacterial strains cultured from urine sampled at the catheter end compared to samples obtained by catheter puncture. However, one-quarter of the samples obtained by the catheter did not show complete agreement with the bladder aspiration samples. It is concluded that, in patients with an indwelling catheter, urinary sampling by the catheter does not always provide relevant information about the bacterial strains present and bladder aspiration is advised.