Antibiotic prophylaxis after urethroplasty may offer no benefit

Critically Evaluating the Role for Postoperative Antibiotics in Patients Undergoing Urethroplasty With Buccal Mucosa Graft: A Claims Database Analysis

OBJECTIVE

To compare outcomes among patients undergoing first-time urethroplasty with buccal mucosa graft (BMG) who receive postoperative antibiotics vs those who do not.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort study was conducted using the TriNetX claims database between 2008-2022. Using CPT, ICD10, and LOINC codes, patients >18 years old undergoing primary urethroplasty with BMG who received an outpatient prescription for antibiotics between postoperative day 0-30 or did not were queried. Patients with positive preoperative urine culture or urinary tract infection (UTI) within 30days preoperatively were excluded. Surgical outcomes included 5-year revision rates and revision-free survival. Safety outcomes included new UTI within 30days, surgical site infection within 90days, or Clostridium difficile infection within 30days of urethroplasty.

RESULTS

We identified 884 patients (81% antibiotic cohort, 19% nonantibiotic cohort) that met inclusion criteria. Age at time of urethroplasty, suprapubic tube presence, and pre-existing medical comorbidities were comparable between cohorts (Table 1A). There was no difference in 5-year rates and revision-free survival for endoscopic revision (11.5% vs 9.5%, relative risk (RR) 1.2, 95% CI [0.7, 2.0], recurrence-free survival (RFS) log-rank P = .6), re-do urethroplasty (12.9% vs 13.7%, RR 0.9, 95% CI [0.6, 1.5], RFS log-rank P = .7), or all-cause revision (19.8% vs 17.7%, RR 1.1, 95% CI [0.8, 1.6], P = .5) between groups. Postoperative rates of UTI, surgical site infection, and C difficile infection were similar between groups.

CONCLUSION

In this large retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing urethroplasty with BMG, we observed no significant benefit from use of postoperative antibiotics on long-term revision rates or perioperative infectious complications.

Refining Bacteriuria as a Risk Factor for Complications After Urethroplasty: Identifying the Culprit

OBJECTIVE

To determine which bacteria are associated with an increased risk of 90-day complications after urethroplasty. Preoperative bacteriuria is associated with an increased risk of complications after urethroplasty. However, it remains unclear which specific micro-organisms are the primary drivers of this morbidity.

METHODS

A single-institution, 2-surgeon retrospective review was performed on patients undergoing urethroplasty from 08/2003 to 06/2021. Preoperative bacteriuria was considered significant when the patient had a mixed culture with ≥108 CFU/L or an identifiable micro-organism with ≥106 CFU/L. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the results and chi-square was used to determine the association between 90-day complications (Clavien ≥2) and clinical characteristics/bacteria.

RESULTS

Out of 1611 patients, 23.2% (373) had significant preoperative bacteriuria. The most common pathogens included coagulase-negative staphylococcus 18.5% (69), mixed growth 15.8% (59), Escherichia coli 10.7% (40), and Enterococcus 14.2% (53). 7.9% (128/1611) experienced a significant 90-day complication (Clavien-Dindo ≥2). Gram-negative bacilli including E coli, Pseudomonas sp, Klebsiella sp, Serratia sp, Citrobacter sp, Achromobacter sp, Stenotrophomonas sp, and Morganella sp were associated with higher rates of postoperative complications (14.2%; P = .01) as well as Enterococcus sp (15.1%; P = .03). However, gram-positive cocci (7.9%; P = .97), gram-positive bacilli (11.8%; P = .47), mixed growth (5.1%; P = .54) and Candida (16.7%; P = .27) were not. Neither escalating concentrations of bacteria (P = .44) or number of strains (P = .08) were associated with increased risk of complications.

CONCLUSION

The main driver of bacteriuria-related complications after urethroplasty are gram-negative bacilli and Enterococcus sp. Patients with bacteriuria related to other micro-organisms can likely proceed with urethroplasty without increased risk of postoperative complications.

Blunt traumatic female urethral and bladder neck injuries: a 15-year single-institution experience

PURPOSE

To describe our experience in the management and outcomes of female patients with urethral or bladder neck (BN) injury at a high-volume Level 1 trauma center.

METHODS

A retrospective chart review of all female patients with urethral or BN injury by blunt trauma mechanism admitted to a Level 1 trauma center between 2005 and 2019 was performed.

RESULTS

Ten patients met study criteria with median age 36.5 years. All had concomitant pelvic fractures. All injuries were confirmed operatively, with no delayed diagnoses. Two patients were lost to follow up. One patient was not eligible for early repair of urethral injury and had two repairs of a urethrovaginal fistula. Two of seven (29%) patients who underwent early repair of their injury had an early Clavien grade > 2 complication, with none reporting long-term complications at median follow-up of 15.2 months.

CONCLUSIONS

Intraoperative evaluation is critical in the diagnosis of female urethral and BN injury. In our experience, acute surgical complications are not uncommon after the management of such injuries. However, there were no reported long-term complications in those patients who had prompt management of their injury. This aggressive diagnostic and surgical strategy is instrumental in attaining excellent surgical outcomes.

Is There Any Benefit to the Use of Antibiotics with Indwelling Catheters after Urologic Surgery in Adults

Antibiotic stewardship in urologic reconstruction is critically important, as many patients will require indwelling catheters for days to weeks following surgery and thus are at risk of both developing catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) as well as multi-drug resistant (MDR) uropathogens. Accordingly, limiting antibiotic use, when safe, should help reduce antibiotic resistance and the prevalence of MDR organisms. However, there is significant heterogeneity in how antibiotics are prescribed to patients who need indwelling urethral catheters post-operatively. We performed a literature review to determine if there are benefits in the use of antibiotics for various clinical scenarios that require post-operative indwelling catheters for greater than 24 h. In general, for patients undergoing prostatectomy, transurethral resection of the prostate, and/or urethroplasty, antibiotic administration may be limited without increased risk of CAUTI. However, more work is needed to identify optimal antibiotic regimens for these and alternative urologic procedures, whether certain sub-populations benefit from longer courses of antibiotics, and effective non-antibiotic or non-systemic therapies.

Proactive discontinuation of postoperative antibiotic prophylaxis after urethroplasty

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to examine the clinical significance of an antimicrobial administration protocol, in which postoperative prophylaxis was proactively discontinued.

METHODS

We included 81 adult urethroplasties performed at our institution in the study. Preoperative bacteriuria was treated using an appropriate antimicrobial agent 2-5 days before surgery. All patients were treated with intravenous antimicrobial agents until postoperative day 2, and thereafter without prophylaxis. Antibiotics were resumed from the day before the urethrogram for urethral catheter removal, 2-3 weeks postoperatively. The relationships between pre- and postoperative positive urine culture and postoperative infectious complications, along with factors influencing surgical success rate were examined retrospectively.

RESULTS

Of the 81 patients, 60 underwent anastomotic repair and 21 underwent substitution repair. Positive preoperative urine cultures were more frequent in patients having suprapubic cystostomy tube than in those without (P < 0.0001), but such a difference was not noted postoperatively between the two groups, and approximately half of the patients had a positive urine culture postoperatively. Wound infections and symptomatic urinary tract infections rates were 3.7% and 2.5%, respectively, similar to previous studies with longer prophylaxis, and no significant correlation was noted with pre- and postoperative positive urine culture, treated by this antibiotic protocol. The overall clinical and objective success rates were 96.3% and 79.0%, respectively, and no significant impact of pre- or postoperative positive urine culture was noted. The only significant parameter for objective success was patient age.

CONCLUSION

Perioperative management of urethroplasty is feasible using the antimicrobial protocol described in this study.

Clinical and Microbiological Effects of an Antimicrobial Stewardship Program in Urology-A Single Center Before-After Study

Antimicrobial resistance is a major public health issue caused by antibiotic overuse and misuse. Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) has been increasingly endorsed worldwide, but its effect has been studied scarcely in urologic settings. A before-after study was performed from 2018 through 2020 to evaluate changes in antimicrobial prescription, resistance rates and clinical safety upon implementation of an AMS audit and feedback program in the Urology Department of a large German academic medical center. The primary endpoints were safety clinical outcomes: the rate of infection-related readmissions and of infectious complications after transrectal prostate biopsies. Resistance rates and antimicrobial consumption rates were the secondary endpoints. The AMS team reviewed 196 cases (12% of all admitted in the department). The overall antibiotic use dropped by 18.7%. Quinolone prescriptions sank by 78.8% (p = 0.02) and 69.8% (p > 0.05) for ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin, respectively. The resistance rate of E. coli isolates declined against ceftriaxone (−9%), ceftazidime (−12%) and quinolones (−25%) in the AMS period. No significant increase in infection-related readmissions or infectious complications after prostate biopsies was observed (p = 0.42). Due to the potential to reduce antibiotic use and resistance rates with no surge of infection-related complications, AMS programs should be widely implemented in urologic departments.

Antibiotic Duration After Urethroplasty: An Attempt at Improving Antibiotic Stewardship

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate if decreasing postop abx prophylaxis affects UTI and wound infection rates in patients following urethroplasty.

METHODS

A retrospective review of patients who underwent urethroplasty from 9/2017 - 3/2020 by a single surgeon was performed. All patients received urine culture specific perioperative IV abx prior to urethroplasty and kept a urethral catheter for 3 weeks postop. Patients undergoing a urethroplasty from 9/2017 to 12/2018 received extended postop abx prophylaxis for 3 weeks until catheter removal (Group 1). Patients from 12/2018 to 3/2020 received abx for 3 days around catheter removal (Group 2). UTIs, abx complications, and wound infections between groups were evaluated. UTIs were defined as a positive urine culture or reported lower urinary tract symptoms/fevers treated with empiric abx.

RESULTS

120 patients underwent urethroplasty. Group 1 consisted of 60 patients with mean age of 51.9 years and mean stricture length of 3.6 cm. Group 2 had 60 patients with mean age of 53.1 years and mean stricture length of 3.8 cm. 10 patients had UTIs after urethroplasty. There was no significant difference in UTI (6.7% vs 11.7%; P = 0.529) or wound infection rates (3.3% vs 1.7%;' P = 1.000) between the two groups.

CONCLUSION

Extended postoperative antibiotic prophylaxis does not appear to significantly affect UTI or wound infection rates following urethroplasty. The retrospective nature of the study has limitations, however, this is the first comparison of two different antibiotic administration protocols to our knowledge.

Determining Perioperative Practice Patterns in Urethroplasty: A Survey of Genitourinary Reconstructive Surgeons

OBJECTIVE

To better delineate perioperative urethroplasty practice patterns among reconstructive urologists given that management strategies in reconstructive urology have generally been poorly described.

METHODS

An online survey examining perioperative management of anterior urethroplasty patients was administered to Society of Genitourinary Reconstructive Surgeons (GURS) members between August-October 2019. Questions pertained to tissue transfer, pharmacologic prophylaxis, catheter use, follow-up, and post-operative care.

RESULTS

A total of 248 GURS members were invited to participate, with a response rate of 57.2% (n = 142). Most participants performed >20 urethroplasties per year (n = 108, 76.1%). Almost all respondents (97.9%, n = 139) used intraoperative intravenous antibiotics. A minority of surgeons used intraoperative pharmacologic thromboembolism prophylaxis (n = 57, 40.1%). Surgeons prefer buccal mucosa for grafting (n = 138, 97.2%) with many leaving the donor site open (n = 76, 53.5%). Only 21.8% (n = 31) of surgeons prescribe bedrest for patients and 25.4% (n = 36) routinely place drains. Postoperatively, oral antimicrobials are routinely administered (n=100, 70.4%), with most continuing until the urinary catheter is removed (70, 72.2%). Patients commonly had a urethral catheter for 2-3 (n = 72, 58.5%) or 3-4 weeks (n = 37, 30.1%). At catheter removal, surgeons routinely perform urethral imaging with contrast (n=96, 67.6%). Most surgeons prefer some form of objective investigation (n = 111, 78.2%) (uroflowmetry [n = 91, 82.0%], post-void residual [n = 88, 79.3%]). Cystoscopy is also commonly performed (n = 64, 57.7%). These investigations are routinely performed at 2-3 (n = 49, 44.2%) or 4-6 months (n = 38, 34.2%) postoperatively.

CONCLUSION

Despite general consensus on urethroplasty management options, heterogeneity remains in the areas of antibiotic use, VTE prophylaxis, donor site management, catheter management, and follow-up assessment.

Postoperative Infection of Male Posterior Urethral Stenosis with Pelvic Fracture: A Retrospective Study from a Chinese Tertiary Teferral Center

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the risk factors for postoperative infection, including systemic inflammatory response syndrome, sepsis and surgical site infection, after posterior urethral anastomosis for the treatment of male posterior urethral stenosis with pelvic fractures.

METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed data from patients who underwent transperineal end-to-end anastomotic urethroplasty between January 2016 and December 2018. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze patient characteristics and perioperative features. Univariate analysis was performed to identify prognostic factors associated with postoperative infection. Multivariate analysis was used to identify independent risk factors for postoperative infection.

RESULTS

Among 261 patients included in the analysis, 16.48% had SIRS, 3.83% had sepsis, and 8.05% had SSI. The primary results suggested that penile septum separation, inferior pubic resection, operating duration, preoperative urine culture result, preoperative waiting time, urethral stenosis length, and draining method were significant predictors of postoperative infections. Multivariate analysis revealed that more complex surgical procedures, operating duration and positive urine culture results were independent risk factors for SIRS and preoperative positive urine culture result was an independent risk factor for sepsis and SSI.

CONCLUSIONS

Positive preoperative urine culture was the main risk factor for postoperative infections. More complex surgical procedures, such as penile septum separation and inferior pubic resection, and longer operating duration were more likely to be associated with postoperative SIRS.