Older women who used vaginal estrogen were more likely to develop urinary tract infections around the time of hip fracture surgery, according to a small study from Duke Health presented at The Menopause Society's 2026 annual meeting in San Diego.
Vaginal estrogen is widely prescribed to prevent recurrent UTIs after menopause, and the researchers said they were surprised it did not lower infection risk. The study does not show that the treatment caused the infections.
