Author Interviews, Infections, Pain Research, PLoS, Urinary Tract Infections / 17.05.2018
Ibuprofen Can Not Replace Antibiotics in Uncomplicated UTI
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Ingvild Vik MD
Doctoral Research Fellow
Department of General Practice
Institute of Health and Society - UiO
University of Oslo, Norway
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Uncomplicated urinary tract infection (UTI) is the most common bacterial infection in women. It is painful and troublesome, and even though it is often self-limiting most women who see a doctor will be prescribed an antibiotic, as antibiotics provide quick symptom relief. Antibiotic resistance is a growing, serious public health problem. Antibiotic use is the main contributor to antibiotic resistance, and to stop the rapid development it is crucial that we reduce unnecessary use of antibiotics. Antibiotics can cause unpleasant and potentially severe side effects, so avoiding unnecessary use is also beneficial for the individual patient.
A small German trial published in 2010 by Bleidorn et al. suggested that ibuprofen was non-inferior to the antibiotic ciprofloxacin in achieving symptomatic cure in uncomplicated UTI. This inspired us to conduct a larger trial to compare the anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen to antibiotics in the treatment of uncomplicated UTI. (more…)