Erythromycin for persistent or recurrent nongonococcal urethritis. A randomized, placebo-controlled trial.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the efficacy of a 3-week regimen of erythromycin for treatment of persistent or recurrent nongonococcal urethritis in men.


METHODS
A prospective, randomized, double-blind trial with follow-up at 2, 4, and 8 weeks after enrollment.


METHODS
Seventy-seven evaluable men with objective evidence of nongonococcal urethritis (36 in the erythromycin group and 41 in the placebo group) with a mean age of 28 years, a median duration of urethritis of 3 months, and a median number of three previous antimicrobial regimens.


METHODS
Erythromycin, 500 mg, or placebo four times daily for 3 weeks.


RESULTS
After 2 weeks of treatment, urethral symptoms resolved in 13 of 25 erythromycin-treated patients compared with 8 of 34 placebo-treated patients (P = 0.03). Erythromycin also resulted in more frequent resolution of urethral discharge and leukocytosis at all visits compared with placebo but these differences were not statistically significant. First-voided urine leukocyte counts decreased, however, by a median of 89% (95% CI, -96% to -67%) in the erythromycin group compared with 23% (CI, -73% to 83%) in the placebo group after treatment (P = 0.02 for the difference in changes). Further, in men with prostatic inflammation, urinary leukocyte counts decreased by a median of 94% (CI, -99% to -83%) after treatment in erythromycin-treated patients compared with a 46% increase (CI, -57% to 290%) in placebo-treated patients (P = 0.0003 for the difference in changes).


CONCLUSIONS
A 3-week regimen of erythromycin was more effective than placebo in improving symptoms and in reducing pyuria in men with persistent or recurrent nongonococcal urethritis, especially among men with prostatic inflammation.
Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle.
T M
TM
Hooton
E S
ES
Wong
R C
RC
Barnes
P L
PL
Roberts
W E
WE
Stamm
D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004917:Erythromycin / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D011472:Prostatitis / Q000188:drug therapy; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012008:Recurrence; D015231:Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Bacterial / Q000188:drug therapy*; D014526:Urethritis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000652:urine
D004917:Erythromycin