Evaluation of vaginal culture results in recurrent vaginitis

INTRODUCTION: Vaginitis is one of the most common reasons for women to apply to health institutions. In our study, it was aimed to evaluate the results of vaginal culture obtained from patients who were admitted to the outpatient clinic due to recurrent vaginitis.
METHODS: Files including vaginal culture results of patients aged 18-49 years who were admitted to the gynecology outpatient clinics of Istanbul Training and Research Hospital between January 2018 and June 2020 with the complaint of recurrent vaginitis, were studied retrospectively.
RESULTS: The mean age of 206 patients included in the study was found to be 34.4 ±12.2 years. 124 (60,1%) out of 206 patients vaginal cultures were negative. 34 patients (16,5%) had mixt microorganisms, Candida species were isolated in 22 (10,6%) and Gardnerella vaginalis in 11 (5,3%) of 82 (39.8%) culture positive patients. In 15 patients, various bacteria were isolated.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Vaginitis recurrence rate and the type of microorganism detected can be affected by many factors such as sociocultural structure, race, education level, contraception method. The number of studies on vaginal culture results in recurrent and persistent vaginitis patients in general and in Turkish society is insufficient. In our study, we found that the contribution of vaginal culture to patient management was limited in this patient group and moreover, the rate of recurrent vaginitis was lower in women using the barrier method.