Urinary Tract Infection - Complications

Complications

Urinary discomfort and emotional distress are the primary concerns in most women with recurrent UTIs. One study reported significant impairment of a woman's quality of life during symptom periods, which affected social function, vitality, and emotional well being.

Medical Complications of Urinary Tract Infections in Adults

Nearly all urinary tract infections are mild, treatable, and have no long-term consequences. Serious physical complications can occur in some cases, however, most often in hospitalized patients.

Obstruction and Widespread Infection. Very severe upper urinary tract infections may cause obstruction that results in widespread and even life-threatening infection. Patients who develop UTIs in the hospital are at higher risk for such infections than those outside the hospital. In one particularly dangerous form of kidney infection that obstructs the ureter, mortality rates exceed 40%. This specific condition should be suspected in people with diabetes who have severe UTIs.

Kidney Damage. In high-risk adults, recurrent UTIs may cause scarring in the kidneys, which over time can lead to hypertension and eventual kidney failure. People with UTIs who develop serious kidney disease from UTIs are likely to have other predisposing diseases or structural abnormalities. (Recurrent urinary tract infections, even in the kidney, almost never lead to progressive kidney damage in otherwise healthy women.)

Urge Incontinence. Recurrent UTIs may increase the risk for urge incontinence after menopause. (People with urge incontinence experience leakage and the need to urinate frequently.) [For more information, see In-Depth Report #50: Urinary incontinence.]

Kidney Stones. Kidney stones can be caused by urinary tract infections (as well as increase the risk for UTIs in the first place). Those known as struvite stones are almost always caused by urinary tract infections due to bacteria that secrete certain enzymes. These enzymes raise urine concentrations of ammonia, which composes the crystals forming struvite stones. The stone-promoting bacterium is usually Proteus, but others include Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, Providencia, Serratia, and staphylococci.