What is the Urinary Tract?

 

The urinary tract is a group of organs that make and carry urine out of the body. These include:

• Kidneys: make the urine
• Ureters: connect the kidneys and the bladder
• Bladder: stores urine
• Urethra: connects the bladder to outside the body

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What are urinary tract infections?

 

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are infections that affect either the bladder or the kidneys. Bacteria can get into the urethra from the area around the vagina and anus. Once inside the urethra, these bacteria can enter and infect the bladder, and sometimes travel up to the kidneys to cause an infection there.

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What are symptoms of bladder infections?

 

Symptoms of bladder infections include:

• Painful urination, usually a burning pain
• Frequent urination
• Sensation of urgency
• New onset of urinary leakage (urinary incontinence)

• Blood in the urine

• Cloudy urine or foul-smelling urine

 

 

What are symptoms of kidney infections?

 

Kidney infections are also called pyelonephritis. Symptoms of kidney infections include:

• Fever
• Back pain
• Nausea and vomiting

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Am I at risk for urinary tract infections?

 

You might be at higher risk for UTIs if:

• You are a woman.

• You are pregnant.

• You have a weak immune system. Many things can weaken your body’s ability to fight off infection. Conditions like diabetes or HIV, or certain medications after an organ transplant surgery, can weaken your immune system and make UTIs more common.

• You have a catheter in your bladder. Having a catheter, or plastic tube, inside your bladder and urethra after surgery or while you are staying in the hospital can increase your risk.

• You have urinary tract obstruction. An obstruction is anything that interferes, or “blocks,” your urine’s flow out of your body like a kidney stone

• You have urinary “reflux”. Urinary reflux occurs when urine flows backwards, that is, instead of flowing out of the body, it flows in reverse, up towards the kidneys.

• You are sexually active.

• You are in menopause.

• You wipe yourself from back to front after you urinate or move your bowels. You should always wipe from front to back.

• You had recent surgery or a procedure on the urinary tract.

 

 

How do you test for a UTI?

 

If you have symptoms of a UTI, your doctor will ask you some questions about how you feel. You may be asked to leave a sample of your urine in a small bottle for testing. If your doctor is worried about a more serious infection, you may be asked to do a blood test to see if there is an infection in the blood. If you have a lot of UTIs, your doctor might ask you to do an ultrasound to get a picture of your kidneys and bladder. Your doctor might also look inside your bladder with a long telescope called a cystoscope.

 

 

I have a UTI. What treatments are there?

 

The main treatment for infections of the bladder or kidney is an antibiotic that is usually taken in pill form by mouth. You will be on the antibiotic for 3-7 days If you have a kidney infection you may be on medication for up to 2 weeks. If you are very ill with the kidney infection it is possible that you will need to be treated in the hospital with medications delivered through your vein (intravenous antibiotics).

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Are there any options to treat pain?

 

Your doctor may give you medicine called Pyridium to numb the bladder and urethra and help with pain. This pill can make the urine a very bright orange/yellow color which can stain your clothing.

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Other things you can do to make yourself more comfortable:

• Take Acetaminophen (for example Tylenol)
• Avoid coffee and alcohol (which can irritate the bladder)

• Drink more fluids to flush out the bacteria.

 

 

What if I choose not to treat my UTI?

 

There are several serious complications if you allow the bacteria to continue to grow and travel throughout your body. These include permanent kidney damage, recurrent infections or sepsis from bacteria travelling to the blood (sepsis is serious potentially life-threatening infection)

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If you are pregnant, an untreated UTI can result in pregnancy complications (including a low birth weight baby or premature labor).

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I’ve been taking antibiotics for 2 days and feel much better! Can I stop taking them now?

 

No! It is very common to feel better within 1-2 days of starting antibiotics, but it is very important that you keep taking your medication for the entire time as prescribed by your doctor. If you don’t finish your antibiotics completely, there is a chance your infection will come back and be harder to treat.

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Can I do anything to prevent UTIs?

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There are a few steps you can take to make it less likely you will get a UTI:

• Drink plenty of fluids to help push out the bacteria

• Urinate frequently

• Always urinate after sexual activity

• Stop using spermicide, especially if you are using it with a diaphragm, and consider another type of birth control

• If you have gone through menopause talk to your doctor about vaginal estrogen

• Do not use any feminine products like sprays, deodorants or douches. These can irritate the urethra and make infection more likely

• Take cranberry tablets or drink real cranberry juice to acidify the urine.

• Take D-mannose: a naturally occurring sugar that helps prevent bladder infection

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Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

2075 Bayview Avenue Toronto, ON M4N 3M5

Telephone: 416.480.6100

www.sunnybrook.ca

PR xxxxx (Feb 2017)

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