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Long-term antibiotics for preventing recurrent urinary tract infection in children
G J Williams1, A Lee, J C Craig
1Centre for Kidney Research, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Locked Bag 4001, Westmead, NSW, Australia, 2145. gabrieW4@chw.edu.au
Insights
Long-term antibiotics significantly reduce recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) in children. However, most studies are poorly designed, necessitating larger, high-quality trials to confirm efficacy and assess side effects.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nephrology
- Infectious Diseases
- Clinical Pharmacology
Background:
- Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common in children, with significant gender disparities in incidence.
- Symptoms in young children are often systemic, including fever and lethargy.
- Recurrent UTIs may necessitate long-term antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent kidney damage, despite potential side effects and resistance concerns.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of long-term antibiotic use in preventing recurrent UTIs in pediatric populations.
- To identify and assess the side effects associated with prophylactic antibiotic treatment for recurrent UTIs in children.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) sourced from MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register.
- Inclusion criteria focused on RCTs comparing antibiotics with placebo or other antibiotics for recurrent UTI prevention.
- Data extraction and analysis involved independent review, random-effects modeling for risk ratios and risk differences, and heterogeneity testing.
Main Results:
- Three trials (n=151) comparing antibiotics to placebo showed a significant reduction in recurrent UTIs (RR 0.36).
- One trial comparing nitrofurantoin and trimethoprim found nitrofurantoin more effective but associated with higher rates of discontinuation due to side effects.
- No side effects were reported in the placebo-controlled trials, but gastrointestinal issues were noted with nitrofurantoin.
Conclusions:
- Existing studies on long-term antibiotic prophylaxis for pediatric UTIs are largely of poor methodological quality, potentially overestimating treatment effects.
- There is a need for large, well-designed, randomized, double-blind trials to definitively establish the efficacy and safety of these interventions.
- Further research should focus on robust trial design to guide clinical practice in preventing recurrent UTIs in children.
Background:
Acute urinary tract infection (UTI) is common in children. By the age of seven years, 8.4% of girls and 1.7% of boys will have suffered at least one episode. Symptoms are systemic rather than localised in early childhood and consist of fever, lethargy, anorexia, and vomiting. UTI is caused by E. coli in over 80% of cases and treatment consists of a course of antibiotics. Due to the unpleasant acute illness caused by UTI and the risk of pyelonephritis-induced permanent kidney damage, many children are given long-term antibiotics aimed at preventing recurrence. However these medications may cause side effects and promote the development of resistant bacteria.
Objectives:
To determine the efficacy and side effects of long-term antibiotics given to prevent recurrent UTI in children.
Search Strategy:
A search of MEDLINE (1966 to Jan 2001), EMBASE (1988 to Jan 2001) and the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register for relevant randomised controlled trials without language restriction; reference lists of review articles; contact with content experts.
Selection Criteria:
Randomised comparisons of two or more antibiotics and placebo with one or more antibiotics to prevent recurrent UTI.
Data Collection And Analysis:
Two reviewers independently assessed and extracted information. For each trial, information was collected on the methods of the trial, participants, interventions and outcomes. A random-effects model was used to estimate a summary relative risk (RR) and a summary risk difference (RD) for recurrent UTI. Heterogeneity tests and subgroup analyses were carried out based on a priori hypothesis of plausible effect modification.
Main Results:
There were three trials (n = 151) comparing antibiotics with placebo/no treatment. The duration of antibiotic prophylaxis treatment varied among the studies (10 weeks to 12 months). The method of allocation concealment in the three trials was inadequate, unclear and adequate. The overall rate of recurrent UTI in the placebo/no treatment group was 63% (48/76). Compared to placebo/no treatment, antibiotics reduced the risk of recurrent UTI (RR 0.36, 95% CI 0.16 to 0.77; RD -46%, 95% CI -59% to -33%). No side effects were described in any of these three trials. There was one double-blinded trial (n = 120) with unclear allocation concealment that compared two different types of antibiotics to prevent recurrent UTI. Nitrofurantoin was more effective than trimethoprim in preventing recurrent UTI over a six month period (RR 0.48, 95% CI 0.25 to 0.92; RD -18%, 95% CI -34% to -3%). However, patients receiving nitrofurantoin were more likely to discontinue the antibiotic due to side effects (mainly gastrointestinal) than patients receiving trimethoprim (RR 3.17, 95% CI 1.36 to 7.37; RD 22%, 95% CI 8% to 36%).
Reviewer'S Conclusions:
Most published studies to date have been poorly designed with biases known to overestimate the true treatment effect. Large, properly randomised, double blinded trials are needed to determine the efficacy of long-term antibiotics for the prevention of UTI in susceptible children.