Clinical Significance of DJ Stent Culture in Patients with Indwelling Ureteral Stents Prior to Endourological Intervention- A Single Centre Prospective Cohort Study

Introduction: Ureteral Double J Stenting (DJS) is commonly done prior to endourological interventions for various indications. Aim: To compare Urine Culture (UC) with DJ Stent Culture (SC) in patients with indwelling ureteral stents prior to endourological intervention and to evaluate the clinical significance of SC with postendourological intervention sepsis. Materials and Methods: A prospective single centre observational study was conducted in the Department of Urology, Army Hospital Research and Referral, New Delhi, India, from August 2017 to March 2019. A total of 100 patients underwent DJS prior to definitive endourological intervention. Patient's demographic profile was recorded along with preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative parameters. UC was also recorded at these intervals along with SC. The data was analysed and compared using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Results: Intraoperative UC of 14 patients were colonised, SC was colonised in 11 patients. Six patients developed Urosepsis, Postoperative UC was colonised in four patients. The Sensitivity, Specificity, Positive Predictive Value (PPV) and Negative Predictive Value (NPV) of intraoperative UC for detecting stent colonisation with identical pathogens were 63.64%, 92.13%, 50.00% and 95.35%, respectively. Patients with colonised intraoperative UC, SC cranial tip and SC caudal tip had sepsis rates of 28.6%, 50%, and 44.4%, respectively. The sensitivity and PPV of SC in predicting postoperative sepsis were low at 83.33% and 45.45%, respectively, whereas the specificity and NPV were high at 93.6% and 98.8%. A 15.8% of diabetic patients and 50% immunocompromised patients developed urosepsis. E.Coliwas the commonest isolated pathogen from UC and SC. On univariate logistic regression analysis, operative time, positive intraoperative UC, positive SC were associated with postintervention sepsis. While on multivariate analysis, none of these factors were associated with postendourological intervention sepsis. Conclusion: Performing routine SC may not be cost effective but could be recommended in cases at higher risk of developing postoperative urosepsis such as those with Diabetes Mellitus (DM) or immunocompromised patients and those expected to take longer operative time.