Stone removal helps half of patients with recurrent UTI

(HealthDay)—Half of patients with recurrent urinary tract infections and asymptomatic renal calculi can be rendered infection-free with stone extraction, according to a study published in the October issue of The Journal of Urology.

Mohamed Omar, M.D., from the Cleveland Clinic, and colleagues retrospectively reviewed charts to identify 120 patients with recurrent urinary tract infections and nonobstructive renal stones who underwent surgical stone extraction and were declared stone-free. Demographic characteristics, as well as procedure, infectious etiology, stone composition, and the systemic inflammatory response syndrome rate, were assessed. Patients were classified based on recurrent infection after surgery: Group 1 (58 patients) had no evidence of recurrent infection, and group 2 (62 patients) had infections develop.

The researchers found that factors associated with a higher risk of recurrent infections included type 2 diabetes mellitus (odds ratio [OR], 1.73), hypertension (OR, 2.8), and black ethnicity (OR, 13.7). Infections with Escherichia coli were more likely to resolve (OR, 0.34), whereas Enterococcus infections were more likely to persist (OR, 2.5). Only race, hypertension, and E. coli infections were significant predictors of infection clearance on multiple logistic regression analysis.

"Patients with risk factors for recurrent infections after surgery should be counseled that stone extraction might not eradicate the infection," the authors write.