The swedish reflux trial in children. iii. pattern of urinary tract infections

Abstract

Purpose To evaluate the difference in rate of febrile urinary tract infection in small children with dilating vesicoureteral reflux, randomly allocated to 3 management alternatives: antibiotic prophylaxis, endoscopic treament, or surveillance only (control group). Material and Methods From 23 centers, a total of 203 children were included, 128 girls and 75 boys aged 1 to less than 2 years. Vesicoureteral reflux grade III (n=126) or IV (n=77) was detected after a febrile urinary tract infection in 194 and after antenatal screening in 9. Voiding cystourethrography and dimercaptosuccinic acid scintigraphy were performed before randomization and after 2 years. The rate of symptomatic febrile urinary tract infections was analyzed according to the intention-to-treat principle. Results There were 67 febrile recurrences in 42 girls and 8 recurrences in 7 boys (p=0.0001). There was a difference in recurrence rate between the treatment groups in girls, were febrile infection was seen in 8 of 43 (19%) girls in the prophylaxis, 10 of 43 (23%) in the endoscopic, and 24 of 42 (57%) in the surveillance group (p=0.0002). In girls there was no difference in recurrence rate between those with grade III and IV reflux at entry, but recurrence was associated with reflux grade at follow-up (p=0.0095). Conclusions In this randomized controlled trial there was a high rate of recurrent febrile urinary tract infections in girls over the age of 1 year with dilating vesicoureteral reflux, but not in boys. Both antibiotic prophylaxis and endoscopic treatment reduced the rate of infections.