Urinary tract infections

Abstract

Urinary tract infection (UTI) in children not only causes uncomfortable symptoms but may also reveal a disorder of structure or function within the urinary tract. In fact 5% of children with a first UTI have an unsuspected pathological disorder that may require surgical correction and another 30% have vesico-ureteric reflux (VUR). It is those children with an infection and significant VUR who are at risk of developing renal scars or chronic atrophic pyelonephritis. Extensive bilateral renal scarring will predispose to chronic renal failure later in childhood or early adulthood and less extensive renal scarring will predispose to the development of hypertension.