Intravesical sodium hyaluronate reduces severity, frequency and improves quality of life in recurrent UTI

Urinary tract infections (UTI) occur in nearly half of all women at least once, with around 35% experiencing recurrences. Bladder mucosal glycosaminoglycan (GAG) layer damage is postulated to contribute. Sodium hyaluronate (SH) replenishes the GAG layer and is believed to be protective. However, there is limited literature on patient-reported outcomes and quality of life (QoL) after treatment. Our objective was to observe changes in UTI severity and QoL after treatment with intravesical SH.

In this retrospective, observational patient-reported outcome study, we examined outcomes in UTI patients treated with intravesical SH. SH was instilled weekly for 6 weeks. If symptoms persisted, patients received further instillations on demand. Patients were sent postal questionnaires to score symptoms before and after treatment. Patient-reported UTI occurrences before treatment were compared with recurrences after treatment collected from their primary care providers.

There were 18 (58.1%) valid replies. The median age was 75. The median duration of illness before treatment was 4.5 (IQR 2.8-7) years. The median number of infections fell from ten per year (IQR 7-10) before treatment to two per year (IQR 0-5) after treatment. Pain improved by 34%, urgency 30%, nocturia 30%, frequency 32%, 'inability to carry out daily activities due to UTI related ill-health' 37% and 'loss of sleep' by 38%. Patients reported a 76% improvement in 'UTI-related QoL.' No adverse events were reported.

SH is safe and useful for managing patients with recurrent UTI, with improvements in symptoms, QoL, a decrease in the number of UTI episodes and in the best interests of antimicrobial stewardship.