Gag Therapy for Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection Assessing Comparability to International Nitrofurantoin Gold Standard Study

Gag Therapy for Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection Assessing Comparability to International Nitrofurantoin Gold Standard Study

The GT RACING is a study comparing the efficacy of HA-CS bladder installations with prophylactic antibiotics in the prevention of recurrent urinary tract infections (rUTI).

The main objective of the study is to compare efficacy between hyaluronic acid - chondroitin sulphate (HA-CS) treatment and gold standard treatment (AB prophylaxis). Study is set-up as non-inferiority, parallel group cross-over RCT, with a 1:1 randomization.

Study population: Female (>18rs) with at least 3 symptomatic urinary tract infections (UTI's) in the previous year with no adequate curable therapeutic options.

Intervention: 50ml of sterile Ialuril (HA 1.6% CS 2%) weekly for 6 weeks, followed by monthly maintenance therapy for 6 months.

Control : oral nitrofurantoin 100mg daily (1dd100mg or 2dd50mg) for 6 months. In case of resistance/intolerance/allergy for nitrofurantoin alternatively trimethoprim 100mg daily will be given.

All patients recieve both treatments (ialuril and nitrofurantoin) consecutively, for 6 months each. The order of the therapies is determined by randomisation. Between therapies there is a 4 weeks 'wash-out' period. A total of 100 patients will be included.

During the study patients will fill-out questionnaires regarding symptoms, quality of life and use of healthcare. Furthermore urine will be collected at set timepoints.

Main study parameters/endpoints: The main study parameter is the number of UTI per patient-year. Secondary parameters are time to rUTI (wks.), outcome on the global responce assessment (GRA) scale, pattern of antibiotic resistance, outcome on the patient reported outcome questionnaire, cost effectiveness and Quality-of-life.

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Adult female patients (>18 years) who had at least 3 symptomatic UTI's in the previous year with no adequate curable therapeutic options (e.g. bladder stones)
2. At least one UTI's must be confirmed with a positive culture and antibiogram, further UTI's must be confirmed with a urine sediment with positive nitrite or a positive culture.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Male
2. < 18 years
3. Pregnant
4. Already on GAG therapy
5. Already on prophylactic antibiotics
6. Started or stopped cranberry/d-mannose therapy or vaginal estrogenic creme in the last two months
7. Had Gentamicin or other antibiotic instillations in the previous 2 months
8. Allergic to >3 regular used antibiotics in Dutch guidelines (ed. Nitrofurantoin, trimethoprim, Fosfomycin)
9. A urinary fistula
10. Urinary stones
11. Urogenital cancer
12. Bladder Pain Syndrome - Interstitial Cystitis
13. Chronic pelvic pain
14. Had a STD untreated or treated in the previous 2 months
15. A urinary diversion
16. An Indwelling catheter
17. A suprapubic catheter
18. Performing >1/day self-catheterization
19. A residue after voiding (PVR) of >200ml
20. Unable (also legal) to give informed consent
21. Recurrent urosepsis
22. Multiresistant bacteria in previous urine cultures
23. Contra-indications and interactions for Nitrofurantoin: severe kidney disfunction (GFR < 30), lung- or liver problems or neuropathy after previous use of nitrofurantoin, acute porphyria, known G6PD deficiency, use of magnesium trisilicate.
24. Contra-indications and interactions for trimethoprim: severe kidney or liver dysfunction, blood count abnormality, use of vitamin K antagonists, use of folic acid antagonists, use of ace inhibitors
25. Severe lung/respiratory disfunction (reduced lung capacity, lung cancer, fibrosis, COPD)
26. Does not tolerate catheterization