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Effect of Chlorhexidine Gluconate Bladder Instillations in Patients With Chronic Suprapubic Catheters on Unplanned Healthcare Encounters and Quality of Life

Instillation in Neurogenic Bladders to Decrease Unplanned Healthcare Encounters

Status
Recruiting
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT06163469
Enrollment
70
Registered
2023-12-08
Start date
2024-04-01
Completion date
2027-12-31
Last updated
2026-06-18

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Neurogenic Bladder, Urinary Retention

Keywords

recurrent UTI, bladder irrigation

Brief summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the feasibility and tolerability of 0.05% Chlorhexidine Gluconate (CGH) bladder instillations in an outpatient setting at the time of suprapubic catheter (SPC) exchange in patients with history of recurrent urinary tract infections (UTI). The main questions are: 1. is instillation of 150mL of CGH for five-minute duration at the time of SPC exchange feasible in an outpatient setting and tolerable for patients. 2. does this protocol decrease the rate of unplanned health care visits and improve patient quality of life. Patients will undergo the treatment protocol during their routine suprapubic catheter exchanges.

Detailed description

Bacterial colonization is present in up to 95% of chronically catheterized patients. Although a positive urine culture collected from an indwelling catheter is not in isolation indicative of an acute urinary tract infection (UTI), long term catheter use is associated with increased rates of recurrent urinary tract infections (rUTI), pyelonephritis, and bacteremia. Using antibiotics for prevention of infections in this patient population can be challenging given the side effects, cost, and emergence of resistant bacteria with antibiotic therapy. To limit systemic side effects, intravesical irrigation is a promising route of medication administration. The use of a non-antibiotic anti-microbial at the time of SPC exchange would eliminate the obstacles of non-compliance and antibiotic resistance associated with antibiotic irrigation for preventive therapy. Irrisept, a 0.05% Chlorhexidine Gluconate (CHG) irrigation in sterile water, could be a promising agent to reduce symptomatic UTIs and unplanned tube changes in chronically catheterized patients. The proposed route of intravesical instillation involves the administration of a therapeutic agent directly into the bladder via a urinary catheter. This route allows for local contact with bladder mucosa and urinary pathogens. It is a currently accepted route of administration used for therapeutics in urologic conditions including, but not limited to UTI prophylaxis, bladder cancer, hemorrhagic cystitis, and interstitial cystitis. Benefits of intravesical instillation include maximizing exposure of the therapeutic within the bladder while limiting systemic absorption and side effects. A volume 150cc is based on current clinical administration of bladder instillations. Current intravesical drug delivery is most commonly utilized in volumes 50-150cc for in-office instillation. Population studies of normal volunteers demonstrate that 1st bladder sensation occurs between 125-200cc with subsequent desire to void occurring between 170-370cc. Increasing instillation volumes greater than 150cc, especially in the chronically catheterized population, can lead to patient discomfort or dysreflexia and inability to tolerate the therapy without analgesia or anesthetic.

Interventions

DEVICEBladder instillation with Irrisept

9 months of bladder instillations (3 months of saline and 6 months of chlorohexidine gluconate)

Sponsors

Yale University
Lead SponsorOTHER
Irrimax Corporation
CollaboratorINDUSTRY

Study design

Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Indwelling suprapubic catheter with insertion date at least 1 year prior to study enrollment date. * History of urinary tract infections, treated for at least 1 positive urine culture in last 6 months

Exclusion criteria

* Current radiographic evidence of urolithiasis * History of vesicoureteral reflux * History of renal transplantation * History of bladder augmentation * Inability to stop use of other rUTI prophylaxis treatments for the duration of their trial enrollment * Life expectancy of less than 12 months prior to consent. * Known hypersensitivity or allergy to chlorhexidine. * Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
tolerability and feasibility of CGH bladder instillation9 monthsTolerability and feasibility of CGH bladder instillation of 150mL for five-minute duration at the time of SPC exchange. Volumes of each instillation and tolerated dwell time will be recorded with each instillation.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Incidence of bacteriuriamonthly for 15 monthsUrine cultures will be taken at each SPC exchange for nine months while undergoing irrigations (3 months with saline and 6 months with Irrisept) and for an additional six months following completion of instillation treatment. Incidence of bacteriuria prior to the start of instillation will be compared to the incidence during the instillation phase and observation phase.
effect of chlorhexidine gluconate catheter biofilm floraup to 9 monthsthe catheter tips will be sent for culture at each exchange. results between the saline and CGH irrigations will be compared
Incidence of symptomatic UTIup to 15 monthsParticipants will complete a validated UTI symptom assessment at the time of instillation and then three days later when the urine culture is finalized. Responses will be compared to each participants self reported typical UTI symptoms to differentiate between asymptomatic bacteruria and symptomatic UTI.
impact of mechanical bladder washingup to 9 monthsUrine culture results and patient questionnaires during the saline irrigations will be compared to those during the CGH irrigation
effect of chlorhexidine changes the microbiome of the bladderup to 15 monthsUrine culture data from the CGH instillation phase will be compared to culture data from the saline irrigation and observational period. Changes in the dominant bacteria from each culture will be reported.
unplanned healthcare contact between routine SPC exchangesup to 15 monthsAt each SPC change and instillation an interval history will be taken any unplanned healthcare utilization (I.e. emergency room, primary care, and urology calls and visits) will be recorded. The number of recorded events during the instillation and observation phases will be compared.
patient quality of life and overall satisfactionup to 15 monthsparticipants will complete a validated six question quality of life questionnaire at months 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15. Changes in the sum total (lower the sum the higher the quality of life) and individual responses will be tabulated.

Countries

United States

Contacts

CONTACTJoshua Sterling, MD, MSc
joshua.sterling@yale.edu203-737-3619
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORJoshua Sterling, MD, MSc

Yale University

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Jun 19, 2026