Moving from bag to catheter for urine collection in non-toilet-trained children suspected of having urinary tract infection: a paired comparison of urine cultures.
OBJECTIVE
To compare, in the same children, urine culture results from bag- versus catheter-obtained specimens with catheter culture as the reference.


METHODS
A total of 192 non-toilet-trained children <3 years of age from 2 emergency departments were recruited for this prospective cross-sectional study. All had positive urinalysis results from bag-obtained specimens that were systematically checked with a catheter-obtained specimen before treatment. Results of comparison of urine cultures obtained with these 2 collecting methods are presented.


RESULTS
A total of 7.5% of bag-obtained specimen positive cultures had false-positive results. Twenty-nine percent of bag-obtained specimen cultures with negative results were false negative. Altogether, bag-obtained specimens led to either a misdiagnosis or an impossible diagnosis in 40% of cases versus 5.7% when urethral catheterization was used.


CONCLUSIONS
Every bag-obtained positive-result urinalysis should be confirmed with a more reliable method before therapy.
Department of Pediatrics, Limoges University Hospital, Hôpital de la Mère et de l'Enfant, Limoges, France.
Cécile
C
Etoubleau
Marianne
M
Reveret
Delphine
D
Brouet
Isabelle
I
Badier
Philippe
P
Brosset
Laurent
L
Fourcade
Claire
C
Bahans
Fabien
F
Garnier
Philippe
P
Blanc
Vincent
V
Guigonis
D002675:Child, Preschool; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D014546:Urinary Catheterization; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014556:Urine / Q000166:cytology / Q000382:microbiology*