A 5-day antibiotic course for treatment of intermittent catheter-associated urinary tract infection in patients with spinal cord injury

Introduction: This was a retrospective monocentric study conducted at Centre Calvé, France, with the objective of evaluating the effectiveness of a 5-day course of antibiotics for symptomatic (mild urinary tract infection, UTI) or asymptomatic (aBact) bacteriuria in patients with spinal cord injury on intermittent catheterization. Case presentation: This study was conducted from May 2013 to September 2016. Antibiotic selection always followed culture collection and analysis of antibiograms. Patients with febrile UTI (>38°5) or recent history of urolithiasis were excluded. Discussion: Fifty-seven patients underwent 111 5-day courses of antibiotics. The two main bacteria involved were Escherichia coli and Klebsiella Pneumoniae . Most commonly prescribed antibiotics were cephalosporins, cotrimoxazole, fluoroquinolones and nitrofurantoins. On day 4 of the antibiotic course, bacteria were eradicated in 99% of cases. Clinical cure occurred in all patients by day 5 (end of treatment). After treatment, recurrence of UTI occurred in 16% of patients at week 3, 38% at week 6 and 50% at week 9. This rate was not significantly different from patients initially treated for aBact (20%, 35% and 44%, respectively). The UTI-free period was significantly shorter after treatment for aBact (45.5 days) than after treatment for UTI (53.7 days). None of the following characteristics were found to be risk factors for UTI: level or severity of lesion, gender, voiding mode, use of anticholinergic drugs and time since lesion. Results of this study support the use of a short 5-day course of antibiotics to treat mild UTI in patients with spinal cord injury, and provide further evidence against treatment of aBact.