Purple Urine Bag Syndrome: A Case Report

Abstract

Purple urine bag syndrome (PUBS) is an uncommon phenomenon reported mostly in chronically constipated, institutionalized females on an indwelling catheter. It can often cause tremendous distress among health care providers. Though the condition is generally described as benign, it should draw immediate attention to the possibility of an underlying urinary tract infection. The sequential chemical reactions involving tryptophan from food in the gut is hypothesized as the mechanism for the event. We present a case of this unusual and interesting phenomenon with a brief discussion on PUBS.

Keywords: Purple urine bag syndrome; Tryptophan metabolism; Urinary tract infection, Indigo, Indirubin pigment