I've never heard of a connection between UTI and PEs. What's the source you saw that said they might be related? If it is really obscure, there's no reason the ER docs would have looked at that.

"Findings: The risks of DVT and PE were significantly raised, and were highest in the first two weeks, after urinary tract
infection."

http://www.copacamu.org/IMG/pdf/InfectionetVT.pdf

There are other studies connecting acute infection (UTI) as a possible precursor to a person having a DVT or PE.

The main contributors, of course, remain: genetic, sitting too long (for some people), surgery, birth control pills etc.

The only reason UTIs as a precursor are obscure is simply the lack of studies done. That's all.

And of course, it doesn't mean that everyone who gets an UTI will get a DVT!! That goes without saying. But it happens.

I just skimmed the article. Fascinating! I wonder if the infection itself is a precursor if we just all feel sorry for ourselves when we're sick and sit around doing nothing for too long. I'll have to spend more time with this later.

Well, it got me thinking when read those reports: A co-worker was telling me her mother had a PE just a few weeks before I had mine, and she said that shortly afterwards (days I think) she had a UTI. I'm wondering if, in my case and hers, the UTI symptoms were actually PE symptoms.

Furthermore, I had always had doubts about the UTI, since there were very bacterias identified and because I really had no other symptom than the burning sensation and that went away the next day, but the right flank pains and general "I'm not feeling good" feelings remained. And because this was the only "UTI" I ever had. Since the PE, I've been thinking that it may just have been the PEs with the typical vague symptoms.

It's just that if the UTI was the cause, it may not have been an idiopathic PE and may mean I can eventually come off the coumadins.

"Our finding that two infectious processes in different organ systems are associated with a substantial, reversible increase in the risk of venous thromboembolism suggests that acute infections may have a causal role in triggering events," they wrote.


"We do not know whether the transient increase in risk is due to a short-term alteration of endothelial function or to other mechanisms such as white-cell activation or dehydration," they added. "However, infection is always associated with inflammation, and C-reactive protein is raised in patients diagnosed in a primary-care setting with respiratory tract infection."

Other researchers have identified increased risk for venous thromboembolism in patients with non-infectious inflammatory conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease and rheumatoid arthritis, the authors noted."

http://www.medpagetoday.com/HematologyOncology/Hematology/2965

However, the authors were careful to add (and so would I)--
"confounding factors could not be completely ruled out."

Just because it's possible doesn't mean it will happen with everyone.
And just because that causal relationship is obscure that's something that is always a problem.
What isn't looked for---- isn't found.

****I wonder if the infection itself is a precursor if we just all feel sorry for ourselves when we're sick and sit around doing nothing for too long****

If I'm interpreting that right---- any UTIs I ever had, as bad as they were, never forced/allowed me to stay home from work or disengage from 'normal' activities, esp. after treatment was started. The first days might have been 'iffy' when that horrible urge to pee was there.

Perhaps others had a different/worse strain?

My husband got a UTI while in the hospital. He had never had one before. It started recurring and took months to get rid of it. I assumed it had come from the catheter in the hospital. The difficult part was staying in range while taking the antibiotics to get rid of it. It could be that he had the UTI before the PE?? I am interested to know if there is a connection. thanks for the post.

liz--- I hope your husbands UTI stays away.

"The most common nosocomial infections are of the urinary tract, surgical site and various pneumonias."

Nosocomial = hospital acquired

I am on low dose amoxicillin in order to prevent the UTIs that I was getting over and over, despite tx. I sent my doctor the journal article that advised that, for certain populations and he complied.

Males, due to a different anatomy, have far fewer UTIs than females so we'll hope that his have gone for good since it was probably nosocomial.

The much touted antibiotic resistance craze that's sweeping the medical community now results in insufficient tx in many times, in my opinion. Rant follows: get rid of food animal abx and maybe 'we' don't have to worry so much. Rant over.