Urinary tract analgesics for the treatment of patients with acute cystitis: where is the clinical evidence?

Abstract

Acute cystitis is one of the most common health-related problems in the female population. Over the last few decades, a number of drugs labeled as ‘urinary tract analgesics’ were released; these are available over the counter and are gaining widespread resonance among the North American population. The main representatives of this class of drugs are phenazopyridine and methenamine hippurate. Methenamine’s efficacy and side effects have been well studied in a recent systematic review. On the other hand, in contrast to its widespread use, the published clinical evidence regarding phenazopyridine’s effectiveness and safety is scarce. In addition, consumers (potentially patients) appear to ignore the limitations of this kind of treatment. In this article, concerns regarding the use of over-the-counter uroanalgesics, with a focus on the relevant clinical evidence, are discussed.

Keywords::

• clinical evidence
• phenazopyridine
• urinary tract analgesics
• uroanalgesics

Acknowledgements

ME Falagas and S Athanasiou had the idea for this article. V Pergialiotis and P Arnos wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors contributed in revisions of the manuscript and agreed with the final version.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Notes

^†Over-the-counter substances.

UTI: Urinary tract infection.