Urine culture is accepted as a gold standard in the diagnosis of urinary tract infections. The risk of contamination is high when urine is collected by sterile bag method. Establishing the diagnosis of urinary tract infection with such a safe method as suprapubic aspiration will prevent unnecessary use of antibiotics to treat the infection, unnecessary use of further examination techniques and long-term follow up of the patients. In our study, results of urine culture by bag method or suprapubic aspiration method were evaluated in newborns with suspicious urinary tract infection. Bag urine culture specimen was obtained from 105 newborns with suspicious urinary tract infection out of 1183 patients hospitalized in our Newborn Intensive Care Unit between January 2001 and March 2007. Suprapubic aspiration was performed in 76 cases whose bag urine culture specimen was contaminated or positive with suspicious clinical findings and other laboratory findings. Suprapubic aspiration culture was positive in 14.7% of 34 cases with positive bag urine cultures, and in 4.8% of 42 cases with contaminated bag urine cultures. These results suggest that the rate of false-positivity of urine cultures with bag method in newborns is higher. When performed by professional teams, suprapubic aspiration can be used safely without serious complications.

Keywords: newborn, suprapubic aspiration, urinary tract infection