Introduction: In most cases, treatment of infectious and inflammatory diseases, including lower urinary tract infections, includes antibacterial drugs. However, their efficiency decreases every year. The absence of new groups of antibiotics makes it necessary to develop alternative treatment schemes and methods for improving efficiency of existing drugs. Systemic enzyme therapy is one of the promising directions in the treatment of lower urinary tract infections, which was shown to be effective for treating a number of diseases.
Aim: to evaluate the results of complex treatment of women with chronic recurrent bacterial cystitis using a drug for systemic enzyme therapy.
Materials and methods: The examination and treatment of 60 women aged 19 to 45 years with an exacerbation of chronic recurrent bacterial cystitis, who were randomly divided into two groups of 30 patients, was performed. In the group 1, patients received standard antibiotic therapy. In the group 2, women additionally received Phlogenzym. An evaluation of the efficiency was carried out on the 1st, 7th and 14th day and included analysis of lower urinary tract symptoms, according to bladder diaries, assessment of pain intensity and laboratory tests (C-reactive protein [CRP], IL-6, IL-1, TNF. During long-term follow-up (6 months after completion of treatment), the relapse rate was evaluated in both groups.
Results: At admission, all women had clinical and laboratory signs of cystitis. By the 14th day, there was normalization of evaluated parameters in both groups. However, in patients receiving systemic enzyme therapy a more rapid relief of the inflammatory process (a decrease in the frequency of urination, urgency, nocturia, severity of inflammatory changes in the blood and urine) by the 7th day of treatment was observed. During a further 6-month follow-up, relapses were detected in 9 (30%) and 4 (13.3%) patients in group 1 and 2, respectively.
Conclusion: The results of the study demonstrated the high efficiency of systemic enzyme therapy. Its use for complex treatment provides more rapid relief of lower urinary tract symptoms and pain, as well as reduces the number of relapses in women with chronic recurrent bacterial cystitis.
Keywords: Phlogenzym; chronic cystitis; dysuria; lower urinary tract infection; systemic enzyme therapy.