I . executive summary
This guideline updates and expands the original Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Guideline for
Prevention of Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections
(CAUTI) published in 1981. Several developments necessitated
revision of the 1981 guideline, including new research
and technological advancements for preventing CAUTI, increasing
need to address patients in nonacute care settings
and patients requiring long-term urinary catheterization, and
greater emphasis on prevention initiatives as well as better
defined goals and metrics for outcomes and process measures.
In addition to updating the previous guideline, this revised
guideline reviews the available evidence on CAUTI prevention
for patients requiring chronic indwelling catheters and individuals
who can be managed with alternative methods of
urinary drainage (eg, intermittent catheterization). The revised
guideline also includes specific recommendations for
implementation, performance measurement, and surveillance.
Although the general principles of CAUTI prevention
have not changed from the previous version, the revised
guideline provides clarification and more specific guidance
based on a defined, systematic review of the literature through
July 2007. For areas where knowledge gaps exist, recommendations
for further research are listed. Finally, the revised
guideline outlines high-priority recommendations for CAUTI
prevention in order to offer guidance for implementation.
This document is intended for use by infection prevention