Periurethral vs Intravaginal Estrogen for Prevention of Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections

Summary

Due to rising antibiotic resistance, there has been a focus on non-antibiotic prophylactic measures for postmenopausal patients with recurrent urinary tract infections (rUTI), one of which is the safe and efficacious option of vaginal estrogen therapy. Standard application of vaginal estrogen cream entails intravaginal application of the cream twice a week, but some providers counsel patients with rUTI to apply a small, pea-sized amount to the periurethral area. This ideally reduces the amount of vaginal estrogen used while attaining a similar effect. However, to date, there is no data to prove that the periurethral technique of application is similar or non-inferior to intravaginal application in preventing UTI.

Timeline

Start

2023-01-03

Primary completion

2025-06-15

Completion

2025-06-25

Publications

• Background Zuo SW, Bradley M, Mowers EE, Zyczynski HM, Hillier SL, Ackenbom MF. Periurethral versus intravaginal application of vaginal estrogen for the prevention of urinary tract infections in postmenopausal women: Design of a randomized non-inferiority trial. Contemp Clin Trials. 2025 Jun;153:107893. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2025.107893. Epub 2025 Mar 30.
• Results Zuo SW, Mowers EE, Hem S, Bradley M, Zyczynski HM, Hillier SL, Ackenbom MF. Vaginal Estrogen Application Techniques for Prevention of Urinary Tract Infection: A Randomized Trial. Obstet Gynecol. 2026 Jul 27. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000006376. Online ahead of print.

Drugs

Indications