Ciprofloxacin therapy in complicated urinary tract infections caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and other resistant bacteria.

Thirty courses of ciprofloxacin were given to 28 patients with complicated urinary tract infections mainly caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. All patients had severe underlying abnormalities and infection usually followed urethral catheterization. The infecting organisms were eradicated from the urine of all patients during therapy and 89% were still clear five to nine days after treatment. At one month follow up the cure rate had fallen to 64%. An increase in resistance to ciprofloxacin was seen in three of the ten failures in infections caused by Ps. aeruginosa. Therapy was well tolerated and few side effects were seen. Ciprofloxacin is a valuable addition to the range of antimicrobial agents available for the treatment of Ps. aeruginosa urinary tract infections particularly in domiciliary practice.