Bacteriuria localization and response to single-dose therapy in women.

One hundred women with bacteriuria had the infection localized by the "bladder-washout" technique. Thirty-six of the 39 with infection confined to the bladder were cured with a single intramuscular injection of 500 mg of kanamycin sulfate, whereas 47 of the 65 patients with infection originating from their upper tract relapsed almost immediately. None of the seven patients with abnormal pyelograms and associated upper tract infection was cured with kanamycin. These results suport the hypothesis that bladder infections in women can be readily cured with a very short course of therapy. Women who relapse after a single injection of kanamycin almost always have renal infection.