Dysuria in general practice.

An analysis of 98 clinical consultations for dysuria in an urban general practice revealed that only 60 percent of patients had proven urinary tract infections. Two percent had gonorrhoea and the rest had an urethral syndrome. Most of the urinary tract infections were caused by Escherichia coli and Streptococcus epidermidis. Proteus mirabilis was the next commonest infecting organism. Among the commonly used urinary antimicrobials, nitrofurantoin was found to be the cheapest and most effective agent. The aetiology of the urethral syndrome was obscure and apart from a small minority of patients who had thrush (16 percent) no obvious cause could be found.