Ciprofloxacin and co-trimoxazole in urinary tract infection

Seventy-five hospital inpatients with bacteriologically confirmed urinary tract infections were allocated to treatment with ciprofloxacin 100 mg, ciprofloxacin 250 mg or co-trimoxazole 960 mg, all given orally twice a day for five days. The patients were generally elderly, with many complicating factors including indwelling catheters; 24% of the infections were caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The cure rates at 28 days were 94%, 88% and 87%, respectively. Side effects were few and minor. Ciprofloxacin appears to be an effective and safe orally-administrable treatment even for complicated urinary tract infection.