Authors
Yatin Talwar, Himanshu Agrawal, Kumar Dharmendra Singh, Chandrakant Pilania
Published in
Cureus. Volume 18. Issue 8. Pages e115123. Epub Aug 24, 2026.
Abstract
Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) remain among the most frequent healthcare-associated infections. Increasing antimicrobial resistance has renewed interest in bladder irrigation as a non-antibiotic therapeutic strategy. Tap water and povidone-iodine are two readily available irrigation solutions that have recently been evaluated in prospective clinical studies. A comparative narrative review was undertaken using two prospective clinical investigations published in peer-reviewed journals to compare the clinical effectiveness, safety, tolerability, and potential role of tap-water and povidone-iodine bladder irrigation in patients with recurrent CAUTIs. Study characteristics, patient demographics, intervention protocols, outcome measures, microbiological findings, safety outcomes, quality-of-life measures, and clinical applicability were compared qualitatively. Both bladder irrigation strategies appear clinically beneficial. Povidone-iodine demonstrated greater reductions in infection-related outcomes but involved daily antiseptic instillation in a narrowly defined neurogenic bladder population. Tap-water irrigation produced moderate reductions in antibiotic use and recurrent urinary tract infections while maintaining excellent patient acceptability and quality of life, suggesting an attractive low-cost strategy suitable for wider implementation. Direct comparative randomized trials are required.
PMID:
42787585
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 25 Sep 2026.
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