URETHRITIS

Urethritis is the inflammation of the urethra.

Causes

Typically, it results from the colonization of the urethra by microorganisms.

Commonly, these microorganisms are transferred with sexual contact.

However, there are cases of urethritis where the inflammation results from other causes, such as:

• Injury (e.g. patients who perform self-catheterization)
• Foreign body (e.g. in patients with permanent catheter)

Depending on the microorganism responsible, urethritis is divided into:

• Gonococcal urethritis: caused by a microorganism called Neisseria Gonorrhoeae
• Non-gonococcal urethritis: usually caused by the microorganism called Chlamydia Trachomatis

Other microorganisms can also cause urethritis, such as adenoviruses, microorganisms in gut flora, herpes, cytomegalovirus, mycoplasma, ureoplasma and trichomonas.

Symptoms

The main symptom of urethritis is painful bladder emptying.

Apart from pain, urethritis patients may also exhibit the following symptoms:

• Frequent urination
• Difficulty starting to urinate
• Pain during sexual intercourse
• Urethral discharge
• Hematuria

Diagnosis

Urethritis diagnosis is typically established with:

• History
• Clinical examination
• Urinalysis
• Urine culture
• Microscopy of the urethral discharge (if any)

Treatment

Based on the results of the urinalysis and urethral discharge laboratory test, the patient is given antibiotics to cover the whole range of the microorganisms responsible for urethritis.