Urethral catheter capable of preventing urinary tract infection and process for producing the same

A process for producing a urethral catheter capable of preventing urinary tract infection which comprises forming a film having functional groups capable of being converted into ion-exchange groups by hydrolysis on the inside wall and/or the outside wall of a urethral catheter composed of olefin polymer, diene polymer or silicone polymer as a base material by reacting two or more compounds on said inside wall and/or said outside wall, thereafter hydrolyzing said functional groups in the film, and bonding ionically the resulting ion-exchange groups with an antimicrobial substance

• wherein said ion-exchange groups are carboxyl groups;
• said carboxyl groups are obtained by reacting (A) a copolymer of maleic acid anhydride and a copolymerizable compound with (B) a polyfunctional compound having hydroxyl groups under a condition of an excess amount of the copolymer of maleic acid anhydride and a copolymerizable compound (A) and thereafter hydrolyzing the acid anhydride groups;
• and the copolymer of maleic acid anhydride and a copolymerizable compound is a mixture of (I) about 0.5 to about 99.5 parts by weight of a copolymer of maleic acid anhydride and a copolymerizable vinyl monomer or olefin monomer and (II) about 0.5 to about 99.5 parts by weight of a copolymer of maleic acid anhydride and copolymerizable aliphatic vinyl ester or aliphatic vinyl ether.