Management of genitourinary complaints

Genitourinary complaints are common in most acute care centers. The acute care provider must maintain a broad differential and refrain from misdiagnosing or mismanaging these more acute disease processes. A urinalysis remains useful in the workup of flank pain. It can be used to identify other possible causes of flank pain, such as pyelonephritis. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common occurrences in the acute care center, accounting for almost 8 million outpatient visits each year. Women are most affected because of their shorter urethra and its proximity to the vagina and the anus. Complicated UTIs require longer regimens of antimicrobial therapy that will perfuse the urinary tract and the parenchyma of the organs involved. Asymptomatic bacteriuria is a diagnosis of an infection of the genitourinary system where the patient does not experience any symptoms. Contrary to the common practice in nonpregnant patients, the current recommendations are to treat asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnant patients with antibiotics.