NEW ORLEANS-The maligned foreskin has won a clean bill of health in infants’ urinary-tract infections.
In a prospective study at St. Louis University of 52 circumcised and 56 uncircumcised infants under 6 months with a first UTI, 72 had clinical pyelonephritis. Yet circumcision status (35 were circumcised) wasn’t significant, while anatomical obstructions were.
Abnormal anatomy was responsible for infections in 40 circumcised infants and 42 uncircumcised ones, says Dr. George Steinhardt. Of the 26 boys with normal genitourinary anatomy, 12 were circumcised and 14 were not.
Structural abnormalities, evenly divided between the groups, included 76 with reflux and 23 with obstructions, the team told the American Academy of Pediatrics meeting here. The rest had triad, valves, or bladder diverticulum.
