Shorter versus longer-course of antibiotic therapy for urinary tract infections in pediatric population: an updated meta-analysis

• Published in: European journal of pediatrics 2024-05, Vol.183 (5), p.2037-2047
• Main Authors: Moreira, Marcus Vinicius Barbosa, de Freitas, Lucas Rezende, Fonseca, Luiza Mendes, Moreira, Matheus Jose Barbosa, Balieiro, Caroline Cristine Almeida, Marques, Isabela Reis, Mari, Paula Chaves
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anti-Bacterial Agents - administration & dosage; Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use; Antibiotics; Child; Child, Preschool; Clinical trials; Drug Administration Schedule; Humans; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Meta-analysis; Patients; Pediatrics; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Review; Statistical analysis; Statistics; Treatment Outcome; Urinary tract; Urinary tract diseases; Urinary tract infections; Urinary Tract Infections - drug therapy; Urogenital system
• ISSN: 1432-1076; 0340-6199; 1432-1076
• DOI: 10.1007/s00431-024-05512-8

Urinary tract infections (UTI) affect between 3% to 7.5% of the febrile pediatric population each year, being one of the most common bacterial infections in pediatrics. Nevertheless, there is no consensus in the medical literature regarding the duration of per oral (p.o.) antibiotic therapy for UTI among these patients. Therefore, our meta-analysis aims to assess the most effective therapy length in this scenario. PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing short (≤ 5 days) with long-course (≥ 7 days) per os (p.o.) antibiotic therapy for children with UTI. Statistical analysis was performed using R Studio version 4.2.1, heterogeneity was assessed with I 2 statistics, and the risk of bias was evaluated using the RoB-2 tool. Risk Ratios (RR) with p