7-day antibiotic therapy good enough for treating UTI in men

Men need shorter antibiotic therapy for the treatment of urinary tract infections (UTIs).

USA: Findings of the study, published in the journal Open Forum Infectious Diseases, adds evidence that men with uncomplicated urinary tract infections do not need to be treated for longer than 7 days.

The optimal approach for treating men with urinary tract infections in outpatient settings is unclear. George J Germanos, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA, and colleagues studied the current management of male UTI in private outpatient clinics and evaluated antibiotic choice, treatment duration, and the outcome of recurrence of UTI.

For the study, the researchers extracted visits for all male patients 18 years of age and older during 2011-2015 with ICD-9 Codes for UTI or associated symptoms from the EPIC Clarity Database of 2 family medicine, 2 urology, and 1 internal medicine clinics. For the visit on which an antibiotic was prescribed, data on the antibiotic used, treatment duration, recurrent UTI episodes, and patient medical and surgical history were extracted by the researchers.

Overall, 637 visits were included for 573 unique patients with a mean age of 53.7 years.

Also Read: 30 minute antibiotic susceptibility for urinary tract infections

They found that:

• Fluoroquinolones were the most commonly prescribed antibiotics (69.7%), followed by trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (21.2%), nitrofurantoin (5.3%) and beta-lactams (3.8%).


• The antibiotic choice was not associated with UTI recurrence.


• In the overall cohort, longer treatment duration was not significantly associated with UTI recurrence.


• Longer treatment was associated with increased recurrence after excluding men with urologic abnormalities, immunocompromising conditions, prostatitis, pyelonephritis, nephrolithiasis, and benign prostatic hyperplasia.


• Thirty-two patients had UTI recurrence, with 7 having an early recurrence and 25 having a late recurrence.

Also Read: Urinary and male genital tract infections-Standard Treatment Guidelines

Although the authors note that the results need to be interpreted with caution, they say the study adds to evidence that men with UTIs and no additional complications can be treated with a 7-day antibiotic course. "Shorter duration of antibiotic treatment for male UTI may lead to a decreased risk of antibiotic resistance, fewer adverse effects, and lower costs," they write.

For detailed study follow the link: https://doi.org/10.1093/ofid/ofz216