Precautions
Because it does not kill the organisms causing a bladder infection, there is a risk that some patients will take phenazopyridine alone to relieve their symptoms instead of seeking a physician first and starting an appropriate antibiotic. The medicine serves to only mask the pain, and does not kill the infection, possibly allowing a simple bladder infection to become a more serious kidney infection if taken alone.
Since phenazopyridine discolors the urine, it interferes with the standard urine dipstick test done in a physician's office, especially the leukocyte esterase parameter. If the physician determines that the patient is taking phenazopyridine, he or she will tell the patient to discontinue the drug and return in 2 or 3 days for a standard urine test to determine whether the pain is caused by a bladder/urinary tract infection.
Use of phenazopyridine is generally more appropriate once a diagnosis of bladder infection has been established by a medical provider and an antibiotic has been started to kill the infection.
Some physicians use phenazopyridine to relieve symptoms of catheter discomfort following gynecologic surgery. A recent study investigates this relation and concludes that phenazopyridine does not improve catheter discomfort following gynecologic surgery As of November 2011, no other evidence was found in Pubmed that supports the use of phenazopyridine in catheter discomfort following gynecologic surgery.
Read more about this topic: Phenazopyridine
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