{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,10]],"date-time":"2026-10-10T17:54:22Z","timestamp":1791654862492,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"13","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,2]],"date-time":"2024-07-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1719878400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Spinal cord injuries are debilitating conditions with significant impacts on physical function and patient quality of life. The high incidence of urinary tract infections in these patients can be attributed to neurogenic bladder\u2014a major complication of spinal cord injuries. The aim of this study is to investigate the incidence of urinary tract infections in patients with spinal cord injuries and their relation to the method of bladder emptying. Methods: A retrospective analysis on 560 patients admitted for rehabilitation at the Clinic for Rehabilitation \u201cDr Miroslav Zotovic\u201d from December 2009 to January 2023 was conducted. Patients over 18 years old who were inpatients for longer than 30 days without any symptoms of urinary tract infection on admission were included. Patient demographics, injury details, and bladder emptying methods were recorded. Results: In our study, 402 (71.8%) participants developed a urinary tract infection during their rehabilitation. Urinary tract infections were significantly more common in patients with traumatic spinal cord injuries, lower ASIA scores, and thoracic-level injuries. The highest incidence of urinary tract infections was observed in intermittent self-catheterization patients (62.7%), with Escherichia coli and Proteus mirabilis being the most frequently isolated pathogens. Conclusions: The method of bladder emptying significantly impacted the incidence of urinary tract infection in patients with spinal cord injuries. Despite guidelines favoring intermittent catheterization, this study found it to be associated with the highest infection rates. These findings suggest a need for personalized bladder management strategies to reduce the risk of urinary tract infections and improve outcomes for spinal cord injury patients.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm13133898","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,2]],"date-time":"2024-07-02T11:33:53Z","timestamp":1719920033000},"page":"3898","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":13,"title":["Urinary Tract Infections in Relation to Bladder Emptying in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4760-1236","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sasa","family":"Milicevic","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Pristina, 38220 Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5210-7657","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Aleksandra","family":"Sekulic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinic for Rehabilitation \u201cDr Miroslav Zotovic\u201d, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0609-9916","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dejan","family":"Nikolic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"},{"name":"Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University Children\u2019s Hospital, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2908-3810","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Snezana","family":"Tomasevic-Todorovic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia"},{"name":"Clinic for Medical Rehabilitation, Clinical Center of Vojvodina, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9993-115X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Konstansa","family":"Lazarevic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department for Biomedical Science, State University of Novi Pazar, 36300 Novi Pazar, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-2780-6513","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Svetislav","family":"Pelemis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"},{"name":"Clinic for Otorhinolaryngology and Maxillofacial Surgery, Clinical Center of Serbia, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1709-8449","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Masa","family":"Petrovic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"},{"name":"Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases \u201cDedinje\u201d, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6913-8089","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sindi Z.","family":"Mitrovic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"},{"name":"Clinic for Rehabilitation \u201cDr Miroslav Zotovic\u201d, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"S2","DOI":"10.1097\/00007632-200112151-00002","article-title":"Epidemiology, demographics, and pathophysiology of acute spinal cord injury","volume":"26","author":"Sekhon","year":"1976","journal-title":"Spine"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"24","DOI":"10.5312\/wjo.v6.i1.24","article-title":"Chronic complications of spinal cord injury","volume":"6","author":"Sezer","year":"2015","journal-title":"World J. 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