Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy
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Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. · Jun 1988
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialRandomized clinical trial of rifampin-trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim in the treatment of localized urinary tract infections.
To investigate whether 10 days of rifampin-trimethoprim (RIF-TMP) or 6 weeks of sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim (SMX-TMP) would decrease the relapse rate in patients with acute uncomplicated upper urinary tract infections in comparison with 10 days of SMX-TMP, we randomized 189 patients to receive RIF-TMP or SMX-TMP in a ratio of 1:2. After the site of infection was established by the antibody-coated bacterium (ACB) test, patients with upper-tract infections who received SMX-TMP were again randomized and received either a total of 6 weeks or 10 days of therapy. All patients who received RIF-TMP were treated for 10 days. ⋯ This 6% relapse rate was not different from the 4% relapse rate observed in patients with upper-tract infections who received 10 days of SMX-TMP. The number of patients who discontinued treatment because of an adverse effect in the 6-week SMX-TMP treatment group was significantly greater than those in the 10-day SMX-TMP treatment group (P=0.003) and the RIF-TMP treatment group (P=0.05). Ten days of SMX-TMP was as effective as 6 weeks of SMP-TMP or 10 days of RIF-TMP in the treatment of uncomplicated upper urinary tract infections and caused the fewest untoward effects.