Antibiotics can be swapped for ibuprofen in UTI treatment
6th January 2016
By Alice Klein
Ibuprofen can be prescribed instead of antibiotics to women with uncomplicated urinary tract infections to combat antimicrobial resistance, research suggests.
In a German study of almost 500 women aged 18-65 who presented to their GP with typical UTI symptoms, two-thirds of those treated with ibuprofen recovered without any antibiotics during the four-week follow-up.
Women in the ibuprofen group were found to have a higher burden of symptoms than those treated with an antibiotic (fosfomycin); however, the study authors suggested this may be a worthwhile trade-off to reduce antibiotic