Is There Always a Need to Perform Urine Culture before Bacillus Calmette-Guérin Instillation for Bladder Cancer?

Objectives: There are no unanimous recommendations between urology societies regarding the performance of a urine culture before Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) instillations. The management of a positive urine culture before each instillation depends on the choice of the urologist. The objective of our study was to collect urine cultures performed before instillations and to study their impact on the risk of associated urinary tract infection (UTI) and on the risk of recurrence of bladder tumors. Patients and

Methods: A retrospective analysis of induction BCG files (six instillations per cycle) associated or not with maintenance BCG (three instillations per cycle) was performed between January 2022 and January 2023. A urine culture was systematically carried out a few days before each instillation. In the event of a positive urine culture, the choice of treatment depended on the referring urologist. Demographic data, tumor characteristics, risk factors for UTI, and bacteriological data (date of urine culture, leukocyturia, hematuria, polymicrobial, sterile, and antibiotic therapy given) were collected.

Results: Eighty patients were included, all with non-muscle-infiltrating bladder tumors. A total of 812 urine cultures were studied, of which 88 were positive. Among all positive urine cultures, 42 did not receive antibiotics, and yet no febrile UTI was detected. A serious infectious event was reported in two patients including one death, and no risk factor for the occurrence of a positive urine culture could be identified. Bladder tumor recurrence was identified in 17 patients, 3 of whom had positive urine culture treated with antibiotics.

Conclusions: Performing urine culture before BCG instillation does not seem necessary. Antibiotic therapy for a positive urine culture could expose to a higher risk of recurrence.