Abstract
Sixty-six patients with established urinary tract infection were given a 3-month course of antibacterial therapy and the effect of this upon the recurrence rate of urine infections investigated.
Even in patients with no radiological evidence of renal damage the recurrence rate was 40 per cent at 2 years and this rose to 75 per cent in the group with impaired renal function and abnormalities present on intravenous pyelography.
It is concluded that an initial 10 day course of therapy is indicated in females suffering from their first or second attack of acute urinary tract infection. If this becomes established, a 3-month course of therapy is suggested and following this, further recurrences demand careful renal investigation. In the male, all cases of urinary tract infection should be investigated after the initial therapy. Finally, the management of those patients with no anatomical lesion who suffer from recurrent attacks of infection after a 3-month course of therapy has not yet been clearly defined. There is no evidence that either ampicillin, nitrofurantoin or nalidixic acid is superior to sulphadimidine in the treatment of patients with established urinary tract infection.
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