Bactiguard’s innovative noble metal alloy coating has been used successfully to prevent catheter associated urinary tract infection in millions of patients in Europe, US and Japan since 1995. When the Bactiguard® antimicrobial coating was introduced, there were about 20 years of research and development behind the product. A multitude of clinical studies proved the ability of the Bactiguard® coating to reduce the incidence of device-related nosocomial infections1,2,3,4,5, and thereby also the cost. Publications by numerous hospitals recognize the significant net savings achieved by using Bactiguard® coated devices6. During the many years that Bactiguard® coated products have been available on the market; the safety profile has been shown to be excellent.
At present, two products coated with the antimicrobial Bactiguard® coating are commercially available on the market of indwelling urinary catheters under license to C.R. Bard Inc as Bardex IC® and LubriSil IC®. The products are currently sold in the US, EU, and Japan with several million units per year, making the Bactiguard® coated Foley catheter the market leader of coated urinary catheters.
1 Karchmer T. B. et al., A randomized crossover study of silver-coated urinary catheters in hospitalized patients. Arch Intern Med. 2000; 160(21): 3294-3298
2 Verleyen P. et al., Clinical application of the Bardex IC Foley catheter. Eur Urol. 1999; 36(3): 240-246
3 Bologna R. A. et al., Hydrogel/silver ion-coated urinary catheter reduces nosocomial urinary tract infection rates in intensive care unit patients: A multicenter study. Urology. 1999; 54:982-987
4 Lai K.K. & Fontecchio S.A., Use of silver-hydrogel urinary catheters on the incidence of catheter-associated urinary tract infections in hospitalized patients. Am J Infect Control. 2002; 30:221-225
5 Saint S. et al., The efficacy of silver alloy-coated urinary catheters in preventing urinary tract infection: A meta-analysis. Am J Med. 1998; 105:236-241
6 Saint S. et al., The potential clinical and economic benefits of silver alloy urinary catheters in preventing urinary tract infection. Arch Intern Med. 2000; 160:2670-2675
