RT Book, Section A1 Wang, Mary K. A1 L. Copp, Hillary A2 McAninch, Jack W. A2 Lue, Tom F. SR Print(0) ID 1171179187 T1 Bacterial Infections of the Genitourinary Tract T2 Smith & Tanagho's General Urology, 19e YR 2020 FD 2020 PB McGraw Hill PP New York, NY SN 9781259834332 LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1171179187 RD 2024/11/12 AB Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a term that is applied to a variety of clinical conditions ranging from localized infection of the bladder with lower urinary tract symptoms to pyelonephritis with severe infection of the kidney and the potential for resultant urosepsis. UTI is one of the more common medical problems. It is estimated that UTIs lead to 8.2 million office visits and 1.7 million emergency room departments visits, resulting in at least $6 billion in healthcare expenditures (Stamm and Norrby, 2001; Litwin et al, 2005). UTIs are at times difficult to diagnose; some cases respond to a short course of a specific antibiotic, while others require a longer course of a broad-spectrum antibiotic. Accurate diagnosis and treatment of a UTI is essential to limit its associated morbidity and mortality and avoid prolonged or unnecessary use of antibiotics. Advances in our understanding of the pathogenesis of UTI and the development of new diagnostic tests have allowed physicians to appropriately tailor specific treatment for each patient. Unfortunately, because of the increasing rates of bacterial resistance to various antibiotics, medical therapies are becoming less efficacious (Kodner and Gupton, 2010).