title: Eradication of urinary tract infection following spinal cord injury.
abstract: A prospective study to evaluate the microbiological efficacy of antimicrobial treatment for urinary tract infection (UTI) was performed in 64 catheter-free spinal cord injured (SCI) patients who were visited monthly by a public health nurse who collected urine for culture and urinalysis. Patients also mailed urine dip slides for weekly bacterial counts. UTI was defined as a culture yielding > or = 100,000 colonies/ml. Treatment was given to asymptomatic patients only if pyuria (> or = 10 urinary leukocytes/high powered microscopic field) was present. Initial treatment was for 7-14 days (group 1). When it became apparent during the study that eradication was difficult and relapse or reinfection frequently occurred within a short time after cessation of antibiotic, a second treatment course of > or = 28 days (group 2) was given. By the end of the study, in which all patients were followed for a minimum of 30 days post treatment, 39/42 (93%) cases in group 1 and 11/13 (85%) in group 2 who had initial eradication, had relapsed or become reinfected. The median number of days and standard error for group 1 to relapse or become reinfected was 16 +/- 2.5, and for group 2 it was 27 +/- 6. Development of drug resistance was documented when bacteria isolated prior to any treatment were compared with strains isolated after > or = 28 days of antibiotics. In this study, urine sterility was achieved in a minority of treated UTIs and was relatively short lived.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine 35294.
authors.forename: K B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Waites
authors.forename: K C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Canupp
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: DeVivo
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012008:Recurrence; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000150:complications*; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D014556:Urine / Q000166:cytology / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents