Effectiveness and tolerability of short course co-trimoxazole, norfloxacin and levofloxacin in bacteriological cure of uncomplicated urinary tract infection in outpatient setting. An open label, parallel group, randomized controlled trial.

To compare the bacteriological cure rate of short-course (3-day) treatment of uncomplicated urinary tract infection (UTI) using co-trimoxazole, norfloxacin and levofloxacin, patients with uncomplicated UTI were randomized to receive either co-trimoxazole (960 mg) twice a day or norfloxacin (400 mg) twice a day or levofloxacin (250 mg) once a day for three days. Urine culture was done at the end of treatment and evaluated for bacteriological cure rate in each group. Among a total of 175 patients, Escherichia coli (74.29%) was the most common organism isolated followed by Klebsiella (11.43%), Streptococcus (6.29%), Staphylococcus saphrophyticus (5.14%), and Pseudomonas (2.86%). At the end of three days' treatment, bacteriological cure rates were 86.2%, 87.7% and 83.3% for co-trimoxazole, norfloxacin and levofloxacin, respectively (p>0.05). Therefore short-course treatment with co-trimoxazole 960 mg twice a day, norfloxacin 400 mg twice a day and levofloxacin 250 mg once a day are almost equally effective for treatment of uncomplicated UTI.