In vitro evaluation of the impact of silver coating on Escherichia coli adherence to urinary catheters.

A silver-coated urinary catheter was compared to a non-silver-coated urinary catheter for the ability to reduce adherence of 6 isolates of Escherichia coli. Catheters were incubated with E. coli strains for 0, 24, 48, and 72 h. Broth was sampled at all time points to determine CFU/mL. Catheters were subjected to sonication to determine adhered bacteria at all time points, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to semi-quantitatively assess biofilm formation. Silver-coated catheters had significantly less adhered bacteria than non-silver-coated catheters at times 24, 48, and 72 h. Subjectively, silver-coated urinary catheters had less biofilm formation than non-silver-coated urinary catheters as assessed by SEM. Silver coating of catheters was associated with reduced adherence of E. coli in an in vitro evaluation. Testing of catheters in dogs in vivo is required to determine if there is a reduction in catheter-associated urinary tract infections.