Recurrent urinary tract infection (RUTI) is one of the most common infectious diseases in the elderly, often accompanied by repeated antibiotic exposure, decreased quality of life, increased healthcare resource consumption, and growing challenges in long-term prevention. Particularly in postmenopausal women and elderly patients with comorbidities such as diabetes, neurogenic bladder, urinary retention, or debilitated status, recurrent infections are frequently driven by multiple factors including mucosal aging, impaired local defense mechanisms, microbial imbalance, and repeated pathogen colonization. Current treatment primarily relies on antimicrobial agents, but the efficacy of repeated or prolonged antibiotic use is often limited by post-discontinuation recurrence, adverse drug reactions, and increasing resistance. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has accumulated extensive theoretical knowledge and practical experience in the treatment of recurrent urinary tract diseases, emphasizing syndrome differentiation and treatment, addressing both symptoms and root causes, and individualized long-term management. Available evidence suggests that TCM, either used alone or in combination with conventional anti-infective therapy, may help reduce recurrence rates, improve lower urinary tract symptoms, alleviate inflammatory burden, and enhance quality of life in some patients. However, current studies still face limitations in sample size, methodological quality, diagnostic criteria, and consistency of outcome measures. Future research should strengthen multicenter randomized controlled trials, evidence-based evaluations, and translational mechanism studies to provide more reliable evidence for the clinical application and international dissemination of TCM in elderly patients with recurrent urinary tract infections.
Wang Qing (Thu,) studied this question.
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