Factors associated with emergency department revisits for acute bacterial prostatitis

Objective.

To analyze factors associated with revisits by patients with acute bacterial prostatitis treated in a hospital emergency department.

Methods.

Descriptive analysis and prospective follow-up of a cohort of patients with acute bacterial prostatitis treated in an emergency department.

Results.

We included 241 episodes of acute bacterial prostatitis. The mean (SD) age was 63 (16) years. Seventy-three percent reported dysuria, 64% had fever, and between 15.4% and 22.4% had medical histories of cancer, urethral/bladder catheterization, or prostate adenoma. Positive urine cultures were obtained for 48.1% and positive blood cultures for 17.6%. Escherichia coli was the bacterium isolated most often, and 27.7% of the cultures showed resistance to ciprofloxacin and amoxicillin–clavulanic acid. Twenty-nine patients (12%) revisited within 30 days. The only factors associated with revisiting were performance of a rectal examination (odds ratio [OR], 9.23; 95% CI, 1.12–75.82) and bacteremia (OR, 3.81; 95% CI, 1.31–11.04) (P<.05). Conclusion. Factors associated with revisiting for acute bacterial prostatitis were bacteremia and performance of a rectal examination.