About the Diagnose, Treatment and Complications of Urinary Tract Infections

In order to determine if you have a urinary tract infection, you need to wash the genital area, and collect a "midstream" sample of urine in a sterile container. Then, the sample is sent to the laboratory, and the urine is examined for white and red blood cells and bacteria. Then, is performed bacteria culture, and there are made tests to see which antibiotic destroys best the bacteria.If a patient has the symptoms of a urinary tract infection and there is also pus in the urine,the doctor may suspect the patient has Chlamydia or Mycoplasma, some microbes that can be detected only with special bacterial cultures.

There can appear the situation when the infection does not clear up with treatment and it is traced to the same strain of bacteria. In this case, the doctor may perform some tests to determine if the patient's system is normal. An intravenous pyelogram is a test that consists in an opaque dye visible on x-ray film which is injected into a vein, and after that a series of X rays is taken. In this way, the doctor will see if there are any changes in the structure of the tract. Another test is cystoscopy. With the help of a cystoscope, which is an instrument made of a hollow tube with several lenses and a light source, the doctor will see inside the bladder from the urethra. The doctor may also recommend an ultrasound exam.

The drugs that are more usually prescribed when there are uncomplicated urinary tract infections are trimethoprim, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, amoxicillin, nitrofurantoin and ampicillin. We can also mention a class of drugs called quinolones, which include ofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, norfloxacin and trovafloxin.Although the uncomplicated urinary tract infections can be cleared in 1 or 2 days of treatment, the doctor recommends the patients to take antibiotics for a week or two, just to be sure the infection has passed. It is also known that the single-dose treatment is not recommended for patients who have signs of a kidney infection, for those with diabetes or structural abnormalities, or for men who have prostate infections.The patients with Mycoplasma or Chlamydia are treated with tetracycline, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole or doxycycline, and this treatment is longer.After the treatment is finished, the doctor will perform an urinalysis to see if the infection has passed.

It is known that kidney infections usually require several weeks of antibiotic treatment, and the patients that are severely ill may need hospitalization till they will be able to take fluids and needed drugs on their own.There are a lot of drugs that can relieve the pain of a urinary tract infection. The doctors may suggest the patient to drink plenty of water, in order to clean the urinary tract of bacteria; also it is good to avoid coffee, alcohol, and spicy foods, and smoking is totally forbidden.

Statistics say that women who have had three urinary tract infections have a great chance to continue developing them. A woman who has frequent recurrences can choose from some treatment options, being advised by her doctor.. She can take a single dose of an antibiotic after sexual intercourse, or a short course of antibiotics of about 1-2 days when symptoms appear, or she can take low doses of an antibiotic such as TMP/SMZ or nitrofurantoin (which are more effective if taken at bed-time, because the drug remains in the bladder longer).Doctors also suggest that in order to avoid an infection, a woman can drink a lot of water every day, urinate when she feels it is needed, cleanse the genital area before sexual intercourse, take showers instead of tub baths, and avoid using feminine hygiene sprays and scented douches which can irritate the urethra.

If a pregnant woman develops a urinary tract infection, the treatment should come promptly, to avoid complications like premature delivery of the baby and high blood pressure. It is important to know that some antibiotics are not safe during pregnancy.

Urinary tract infections often appear in men because of an obstruction, like a urinary stone, or enlarged prostate, or because of a medical procedure involving a catheter.After the doctor identifies the infecting organism, he will prescribe the necessary drugs. A longer therapy is recommended in men, in order to avoid infections of the prostate gland. It is known that prostate infections are more difficult to cure, because antibiotics cannot penetrate effectively the infected prostate tissue. In this case, a long term treatment is needed.