The Relationship between Chronic Constipation and Urinary Tract Infection in Children: A Case-Control Clinical Study

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common bacterial infections in children, if not diagnosed leads to serious complications such as hypertension, chronic renal failure and renal scar. Constipation is one of the main risk factors for recurrent UTI. The aim of present study was to investigate the relationship between chronic constipation and urinary tract infection in children. Materials and Methods In this case-control study 105 patients with functional chronic constipation as case group, compared with 104 children without chronic constipation as control. The control group was matched according to gender and age. The prevalence of UTI in children with and without constipation as well as their improvement was compared after treatment. Results The prevalence of UTI in case and control groups was 13.3% and 6.7%, respectively (P=0.17). The prevalence of UTI in case group decreased to 3.8% after treatment of constipation. Escherichia coli (E coli) was the most commonly isolated organism in both groups. Conclusion Results of present study showed that despite of no significant urinary tract infection incidence between children with constipation and those without constipation, the constipation should still be considered as a predisposing risk factor for the UTI occurrence.