Abstract
100 patients admitted to a children's rehabilitative hospital with a diagnosis of cerebral palsy had a careful review of their history of urinary tract infections (UTIs), a complete physical examination, and a screening urine culture (Uricult). Patients with >10,000 colonies/ml of the Uricult had their result confirmed by a repeat culture. 19 patients had a history of previous UTI(s), 63% of whom also had at least some daytime urinary incontinence. Of the 81 patients without a known previous UTI, 60% were incontinent of urine. 92 patients had Uricults obtained. 3 of these studies had >10,000 colonies/ml, all of which were confirmed on restudy. However, one of these results probably reflected contamination, giving a prevalence of UTIs of 2.2% at admission. Of the 89 patients with negative Uricults, (≤10,000 colonies/ml), 12 (13.5%) were known to have received antibiotics within the previous 7 days, 23 (25.8%) within the last 3 months. An antibiotic history was not available for 13 (7 day history) and 29 (3 month history) children, which means that the antibiotic use may be even higher than the rates obtained. In summary, screening Uricults done on 92 of 100 consecutive admissions uncovered only 2 UTIs in a population of children with cerebral palsy, a rate similar to the general population. However, the prevalence in this study may be lower than the prevalence of UTIs in the population of children with cerebral palsy at large due to the high level of antibiotic usage in the group studied. A history of UTIs was found in 19%.
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hellquist, J., McKinney, R. & Worley, G. 1110 URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS IN CEREBRAL PALSY PATIENTS. Pediatr Res 19, 295 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198504000-01140
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198504000-01140