Most primary care physicians recommend prolonged or preventive antibiotics for children with urinary tract infection if they have a VUR (vesicoureteral reflux) because this is the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
A recent study from Pediatrics, the officialJournal of the AAP, done by a group headed by Dr. Garin from the University of Florida, concluded that: "After 1 year of follow-up monitoring, mild/moderate VUR does not increase the incidence of UTI, pyelonephretis, or renal scarring after acute pyelonephritis. Moreover, a role of urinary antibiotic prophylaxis in preventing the recurrence and the development of renal scars is not supported by this study."
The researchers from University of Florida 218 children from 3 months to 18 years of age with acute kidney infection (pyelonephritis). It was a multicenter, randomized controlled study which is the best scientific method of research.
If your child has a urinary tract infection and your clinician recommends a VCUG, discuss this report with her or him.
PEDIATRICS, March 2006, Vol. 117 No. 3, page 626, "Clinical Significance of Primary Vesicoureteral Reflux and Urinary Antibiotic Prophylaxis, after Acute Pyelonephritis: A Multicenter, Randomized Controlled Study."