Abstract
Recurrent urinary tract infections (UTI) in women cost billions of euro annually. E. Coli causes 70–95% of these infections and it has been observed, in vitro and in vivo, to have the capability to develop bacterial biofilms in the bladder: polysaccharide-rich matrix. At the present, the only way to overcome this mucopolysaccaride barrier is to administer long repeated cycles of chemotherapy. We submit prophylaxis to patients with recurrent UTI to sterilize urine for at least 6 consecutive months.
Materials and Methods
42 women with recurrent UTI have been selected according to: urine culture, vaginal swabs, and DNA-probe for Chlamydia, Gonococcus, Mycoplasma. After giving informed consent patients were assigned to treatment group A and B. For the first 10 days both groups received ciprofloxacin 500 mg bid, and then group A received ciprofloxacin 250 mg on alternate days and 1 cpr before every sexual intercourse. The group B received placebo in the same modality. Every sexual intercourse had to be safe. All the patients, after the initial screening, repeated an urine culture every 10 days for the first 6 months and every 20 days for the next 6 months. The statistical analysis was performed by chi-square test.
Results
44 patients finished the study. 23 pt of group A had sterile urine for the first 6 months of the study and 81% for the next 6 months; 1/23 had 2 episodes of symptomatic UTI. 71% of the 21 patients of group B had symptomatic bacteriuria 20 days after the first treatment (p<0.001). 16/21 patients had symptomatic UTI in the first 6 months of the study and the 90% in the 12 months of the study (p<0.001), in spite of every poussèe was treated with the same antibiotic scheme.
Conclusions
This kind of prophylaxis has few collateral effects, and it appears to be effective in the treatment of recurrent UTI in women.
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