Symptoms
Patients with any form of urinary tract infection usually seek treatment because of painful urination. Patients may also complain of urgency and frequency of urination, cloudy urine, bloody urine and or discomfort or pain. A thorough examination is essential because many of these symptoms may also be seen in patients with urethritis and or vaginitis.
Diagnosis
When patients are presented with any of these symptoms, painful urination, urgency and frequency of urination, cloudy urine, bloody urine and or discomfort or pain, the clinician should obtain a clean catch urine specimen for examination. A urine culture and susceptibility (C&S) test is recommended for diagnosis of a urinary tract infection. If a complicated infection is suspected, a full work-up is always necessary because these infections are more like to involve a complicating factor that must be removed, reduced or corrected.
Treatment
The goals of treating urinary tract infections are to alleviate the patient's symptoms, eradicate the responsible pathogen(s), and prevent the spread of the infection to the bloodstream. These goals are accomplished through antibiotic therapy, hydration (to dilute the urine level that causes bacteria to swell and rupture), good hygiene, and pain relief.
