Ciprofloxacin therapy of urinary tract infections in paraplegic and tetraplegic patients: a bacteriological assessment.

The efficacy of a 250 mg dose of oral ciprofloxacin twice daily for five days was studied in the treatment of urinary tract infection in paraplegic and tetraplegic patients. Thirty-eight patients completed the study. By day 3 of therapy the infecting organisms had been eradicated from the urine in 97.2% of the patients. Follow-up, post-therapy samples on day 14 showed 66.7% positive culture results and by day 35, 92.0% were positive. The ciprofloxacin therapy proved efficacious in 97.2% of the patients; however, the factors that predisposed this group of patients to urinary tract infections still persisted and reinfection or superinfection occurred in 92.0%. There was one case of persistent infection caused by Enterococcus faecalis.