Antibiotic prophylaxis following lower urinary tract instrumentation.

Author(s): Bhatia NN, Karram MM, Bergman A, Evans RP

Affiliation(s): Division of Gynecologic Urology, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

Publication date & source: 1992-06, Urology., 39(6):583-5.

Publication type: Clinical Trial; Randomized Controlled Trial

The value of routine antibiotic prophylaxis was assessed in 362 women undergoing lower urinary tract instrumentation. A three-day course of a once-a-day dose of 1 g of cefadroxil was compared with a three-day course of 100 mg of nitrofurantoin three times a day, in a randomized investigator blinded placebo controlled study. Both study drugs were significantly more effective in preventing postinstrumentation urinary tract infections than placebo (p less than 0.003). Differences in efficacy between the two test drugs were not significant; however, side effects in the nitrofurantoin group were more frequent and severe than those in the cefadroxil group. Cefadroxil also offered the advantage of a once-daily dosing schedule.