Login:
 
Practitioner 2011; 255 (1737): 7

Antibiotics no help in patients with borderline raised PSA

22 Feb 2011Registered users

The empirical use of antibiotics for asymptomatic patients with raised PSA levels confers no benefit and should be discouraged, the authors of a study in the BJUI conclude. The trial aimed to compare the outcomes for patients who presented with borderline PSA who either had a repeat PSA after 45 days, or who received levofloxacin 500 mg daily for 30 days followed by a repeat PSA after the same interval.  ' The practice of prescribing antibiotics to patients in this situation has been used to a degree by UK urologists. This study is by no means definitive, but makes it clear that the evidence for this practice is far from conclusive. For GPs the message must be that this is not a technique we should implement ourselves before referring for a urological opinion. There is clear value in repeating the PSA of a patient with a borderline result, but prescribing of antibiotics is not as yet an established management practice.'

Registered usersThis article can only be accessed if you are a registered user of thepractitioner.co.uk or a subscriber to The Practitioner.