A Randomized Crossover Study of Silver-Coated Urinary Catheters in Hospitalized Patients

Abstract
AN ESTIMATED 2 million nosocomial infections occur in US hospitals each year, causing 19,027 deaths, contributing to another 58,092 deaths, and adding more than $4.5 billion in excess hospital costs.1 It was estimated that there were 900,000 nosocomial urinary tract infections (UTIs) in 1992, prolonging the mean duration of hospital stay by 1.01 to 3.8 days2 and increasing costs by more than $500 million.