Comparison of low-dose cinoxacin therapy and placebo in the prevention of recurrent urinary tract infections

Abstract

Fifty-nine female patients with a history of at least three episodes of urinary tract infection in the preceding year were enrolled in a two-center, double-blind study comparing cinoxacin and placebo as preventive therapy. Evaluation of efficacy was based on the results from 41 patients for whom complete data were available. In the cinoxacin-treated group, 18 of 20 patients remained asymptomatic during the study, compared with 11 of 21 patients in the placebo group. This difference between the two treatment groups was significant (P = 0.031). One patient in the cinoxacin group and eight patients in the placebo group developed an infection during the study. This difference was also significant (P = 0.045). Nine patients spontaneously reported adverse reactions, four in the cinoxacin group and five in the placebo group. In four instances, these were sufficiently severe for the treatment to be withdrawn from one patient who received cinoxacin and three patients who received placebo. The results of this study have shown that cinoxacin was significantly more effective than placebo in preventing urinary tract infection in patients with a history of frequent recurrent infections.