Position of Children During Urine Collection: Evaluation Study (PUCES)

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a frequently suspected cause of fever in young children, justifying urine cultures. Sampling procedures are decisive for the reliability of UTI diagnosis. Even though official guidelines recommend clean catch method, catheterization or suprapubic aspiration, urine bag collection remains widely used. In our experience, the rate of contaminated bag-obtained cultures reaches 30.2 %. In a recent study, the investigators have noticed that the rate of contaminated urine cultures was lower when children were kept in an upright position at the time of urine collection. The upright position could explain this decrease, perineum being less in contact with urine. These results are borderline significant, the investigators would like to confirm them with a specific study.