In recent years, the effectiveness of continuous antibiotic prophylaxis in children with vesico-ureteral reflux (VUR) has been intensely discussed. The question is not only whether antibiotics are effective in preventing recurrent urinary tract infections (UTI), but also whether they alter the natural history of disease and help to prevent the appearance of new kidneys scars. The evidence on the effectiveness of antibiotic prophylaxis is scanty: randomised controlled trials (RCT) published until now are poorly designed and carried out in very heterogeneous samples of children, i.e. spanning from 6 months to 14-18 years of age and pooling patients with and without VUR. A recently updated Cochrane Systematic Review concludes that high quality RCTs are needed to determine the effectiveness of long-term antibiotics for the prevention of UTIs in susceptible children. Moreover, the presence of VUR has not been firmly shown to be a risk factor for recurrence of pyelonephritis, and a direct association between VUR and the presence of scars or the appearance of new scars has not been demonstrated; there is just an association between VUR of grade IV-V and prenatal renal dysplasia, almost exclusively in male infants. In spite of this uncertainty, several practice guidelines recommend long term antibiotic prophylaxis in children with different degrees of VUR.