Comparison of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, cephadroxil and cefprozil as prophylaxis for recurrent urinary tract infections in children

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of prophylactic trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMZ), cefprozil and cephadroxil treatments in children who have recurrent urinary tract infection, but no urinary tract pathology. After acute urinary tract infections (UTIs) were treated, the patients were divided into 3 groups randomly and TMP/SMZ was given to 21 patients, cephadroxil was given to 25 patients and cefprozil was given to 34 patients for 3 months--one dose at night. All patients were followed for 6 months following prophylaxis. The frequency of symptomatic UTIs among groups during prophylaxis was not statistically different, however the number of symptomatic UTIs in the cephadroxil group was lower than the other groups. Asymptomatic bacteriuria episodes were detected in TMP/SMZ and cefprozil groups, whereas no asymptomatic bacteriuria episodes were seen in the cephadroxil group. The number of patients with symptomatic UTI during the follow-up period was not different between groups, however all the asymptomatic bacteriuria episodes were encountered in the cefprozil group. In conclusion, in this study cephadroxil was found to be slightly superior to TMP/SMZ and cefprozil in preventing asymptomatic bacteriuria episodes and symptomatic UTIs in children with recurrent UTI and normal urinary tract system.