Radiological Explorations of Patients with Upper or Febrile Urinary Tract Infection

Abstract

Recent European Association of Urology (EAU) guidelines and a clinical prediction rule developed by Van Nieuwkoop et al. suggest simple criteria for performing radiological imaging for patients with a febrile urinary tract infection (UTI). We analysed the records of patients with a UTI from four hospitals in Switzerland. Of 107 UTI patients, 58% underwent imaging and 69% (95%CI: 59–77%) and 64% (95%CI: 54–73%) of them were adequately managed according to Van Nieuwkoop’s clinical rule and EAU guidelines, respectively. However, only 47% (95%CI: 33–61%) and 57% (95%CI: 44–69%) of the imaging performed would have been recommended according to their respective rules. Clinically significant imaging findings were associated with a history of urolithiasis (OR = 11.8; 95%CI: 3.0–46.5), gross haematuria (OR = 5.9; 95%CI: 1.6–22.1) and known urogenital anomalies (OR = 5.7; 95%CI: 1.8–18.2). Moreover, six of 16 (38%) patients with a clinically relevant abnormality displayed none of the criteria requiring imaging according to Van Nieuwkoop’s rule or EAU guidelines. Thus, adherence to imaging guidelines was suboptimal, especially when imaging was not recommended. However, additional factors associated with clinically significant findings suggest the need for a new, efficient clinical prediction rule.