The value of renal ultrasound and DMSA scans in the management of children with urinary tract infections.

Abstract

Until today, there has always been an ongoing controversy regarding which imaging investigations are best to use for children with urinary tract infections, since each procedure has its own sensitivity, specificity, advantages and disadvantages. The aims of this study were to find the value of US and DMSA scans, and to see if these scans alone were sufficient in the management of children with UTI. This was done by a retrospective study carried out at St. Luke's Hospital Malta, on 20 patients aged 0 to 10 years, who had a UTI and who performed both US and DMSA scans. The results obtained indicated that both examinations are useful in the diagnosis and follow up of patients, since both of them can identify different pathologies associated with urinary tract infections. However, since almost all patients included in this study performed further imaging examinations, it was concluded that an US and DMSA scan alone may not be sufficient to provide all the information needed for the correct management of urinary tract infections in children.