Microbiologic profile and clinical practices in urinary tract infections in a tertiary care center in Southern India

CONTEXT: Studies reported differences in clinical profiles of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in patients with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Studies on the impact of the pattern of antibiotic resistance of organisms causing UTI on actual clinical practice are lacking. OBJECTIVES: 1. To study the clinical and microbiologic profiles of UTIs. 2. To compare treatment given with the prevailing antimicrobial sensitivity. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This is a cross-sectional study conducted in a tertiary care hospital. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Retrospective chart review of inpatients with UTI (N = 200, 100 each of patients with and without T2DM), aged >18 years with a positive urine culture. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: We used the statistical package SPSS version 17. The categorical variables were analyzed by the Chi-square test. Data were considered significant if P value was less than 0.05. RESULTS: Similar to previous Indian studies, T2DM patients with UTI had significantly more asymptomatic bacteriuria, asymptomatic bacteriuria (32% vs. 6%), previous history of UTI (25% vs. 2%), and prior catheterization (16% vs. 1%). Escherichia coli (E. coli) was the most common organism isolated and showed sensitivity pattern of meropenem > netilmicin > amikacin > nitrofurantoin. Ceftriaxone was the most common empirical therapy given in spite the prevailing low sensitivity of E. coli to it. All ASB cases were treated unlike recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: Ceftriaxone is the most common empirical therapy given in spite the prevailing low sensitivity of E. coli to it. Cases of ASB were treated unlike recommendations.