Confirmation of negative urine culture status after appropriate antibiotic treatment prior to endourological stone procedures: Is it really necessary?

Abstract

Abstract To evaluate the necessity of confirmation for a negative urine culture test outcome after an appropriate antibiotic regimen for urinary tract infection (UTI) prior to endoscopic stone removal procedures. 170 cases with culture proven UTI and undergoing an appropriate antibiotic regimen based on test outcomes before endoscopic stone removal were evaluated in two groups: Group 1 (n = 85) Patients receiving culture based antibiotic therapy and had a second urine culture test for “sterile urine” status prior to the procedures and Group 2 (n = 85) Patients receiving the same antibiotic therapy and had no additional urine culture test further. Cases were comparatively evaluated with respect to the statistical significance of postoperative infective complications (fever, sepsis) and the duration of hospital stay and re-admission rates during early post-operative period. Our findings showed that no significant difference was present regarding the rate of infective complications (presence of fever, incidence of septic findings), hospitalization period and readmission rates between two groups. Although the presence of a sterile urine has been confirmed by urine culture test in group 1 cases, no additional urine culture was performed with this aim in group 2 cases ( sterile urine was confirmed with only urinalysis) and the outcomes regarding the infective problems were found to be similiar. Our current findings indicate that a second urine culture test may not be a “ must” if the patients receive an appropriate antibiotic regimen based on the sensitivity test outcomes for a reasonable time period.