Efficacy of circumcision in reducing recurrent urinary tract infection in infants

ABSTRACT

A prospective study of infants, aged 1-2 years, who consulted at the National Kidney Insitute (NKI) for urinary tract infection from the period of August, 1992 to July 31, 1993 was performed. There was a total of 38 male infants studied. 19 underwent circumcision using the coronal technique and 19 remained uncircumcised and acted as controls. The mean age of the cases was 1.6 years. Our study showed that only 5.26% of circumcised male infants subsequently developed recurrent urinary tract infection, compared to 21.05% of uncircumcised male infants who developed recurrent urinary tract infection. It was observed that majority of the uncircumcised children who consulted for urinary tract infection were phimotic, which probably predisposed to preputial bacterial colonization and urinary tract infection. Computed relative risk is 0.25, suggesting a protective effect of circumcision on recurrent urinary tract infection in male infants 1-2 years of age.