Introduction: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are frequent, recurrent, and life-threatening for patients with neurogenic bladder. The absence of classic symptomatology often leads to misdiagnosis and overtreatment. Although autovaccines have shown great results in preventing recurrent UTIs in general population, no study including a neurogenic bladder cohort has been published. The aim of this study is to determine the effectiveness of autovaccines in a population with neurogenic bladder. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analytic, Single-center study. 70 patients, both females and males, with neurogenic bladder and recurrent UTI were included. All patients had experienced three or more episodes of UTI during the preceding 12 months. Subjects initiated a 3-month sublingual daily course of Uromune®. Patients were followed for a period of 12 months. Subjective treatment effectiveness was registered using Treatment Benefit Scale (TBS) and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Statistical analysis was conducted using SPPS v.25. Results: 22 female patients and 48 male patients were included. The mean age for participants was 53,81 (SD 14.24). The most prevalent causes of neurogenic bladder were medullar lesion (48,6%) and myelomeningocele (20%). 20,3% of the patients had spontaneous micturition, 68,1% were on clean intermittent catheterization and 11,6% were permanent catheter carriers. 67,1% of the vaccines were monomicrobial and 32,9% were polymicrobial (2 o more different bacteria). In the 12-month period before the autovaccine was initiated, patients had received a mean of 11,20 (SD 6,18) courses of antibiotics for UTI-related symptomatology. During the 12-month follow-up, we observed a UTI mean free period of 5,59 months (SD 4,24). Also, we observed a significant reduction in hospital admissions of 1,20 (CI 95% 0,53-1,87) as well as a significant reduction in emergency room visits of 4,67 (CI 95% 3,24-6,09). TBS was “Well improved” or “Improved” in 73,9% of the patients. VAS was >80 in 50% of the population. No adverse events were registered during the follow-up. No significant differences were observed in clinical outputs regarding the number of microorganisms. Conclusions: Autovaccines are well-tolerated and emerge as an effective treatment to prevent UTIs in patients with neurogenic bladder. They are effective regardless of the number and the type of isolated bacteria. Effectiveness perceived by the patient has shown to be positive. Prospective clinical trials are required in larger groups of patients. SOURCE OF Funding: None
