Stoke Mandeville Spinal Research (SMSR), at the National Spinal Injuries Centre in Aylesbury, has launched a new study into helping people living with spinal cord injury (SCI) who are prone to urinary tract infections (UTIs) by enabling them to self-administer treatment at home.
Researchers from Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore, London, will study people with spinal cord injury who will administer antibiotic treatment in the comfort of their own home by instilling a solution via bladder catheters.
The aim is to prevent the onset of urinary tract infections and help to minimise the risk of antibiotic resistance.
Avoiding the morbidity of UTIs will enable SCI people to continue to work, study, and maintain a good social and family life.
Commenting on the project, lead researcher Dr Sarah Knight, said: “We are very excited to be starting our Stoke Mandeville Spinal Research funded project. Urinary tract infections are a major factor in reducing the quality of life for people living with spinal cord injury.
“We hope that bladder instillation of the antibiotic gentamicin will prevent recurrent infections without the need for oral antibiotics and their associated side effects.”
Commenting on the announcement, SMSR Trustee chair, Richard Tolkien, said: “We are delighted to announce funding for this research project and hope that it will make a big difference to improving the everyday lives of people living with SCI by preventing these debilitating infections.”
He added: “The award emerged from the first round of calls in SMSR’s recently established grants programme. This programme marks a big step in our approach towards developing research that leads the way in SCI and that has the potential to develop brand new treatments and therapies for those many people and their families living with SCI day-to-day.”
Today, in the UK alone, over 50,000 people are living with SCI, many of whom will experience complications from their injuries.
Recurrent UTIs can be extremely debilitating for people living with this condition, with typical treatment and oral antibiotics posing a real risk of resistance developing.
