Urinary Tract Infection & Pyelonephritis
Diagnostics

Diagnostics

Diagnostics

  • A negative urinalysis can rule out a UTI, but a positive urinalysis has poor predictive value for UTI
  • Avoid contamination during collection (e.g. disinfection of adjacent mucosa, discard first urine collection, second, mid-stream sample sent to lab)
  • Collect urine culture PRIOR to initiation of antimicrobial therapy (a single dose of antibiotics can sterilize urine)
  • Positive culture = >105 CFU/ml with no more than two species of microorganism
  • Collect for patients with complicated UTI
  • Male
  • History of stones
  • Persistent infection despite antibiotics to rule out stone, obstruction, abscess
  • Better for identifying abscesses
  • In setting of emphysematous pyelonephritis (may require nephrectomy)