What will a urinalysis show with prostatitis

Any pathological condition in the body must be comprehensively examined. The cause of the development of the inflammatory process can be bacteria, fungi and other pathogenic microorganisms.

Urinalysis for prostatitis in men is one of the ways to accurately diagnose the disease, allowing you to find out the cause and identify the features of its course.

In what cases the doctor sends for a urine test

Every man needs to have a urine test every year. Urologists issue a referral for this laboratory study for any complaints related to urination. This study is included in the complex diagnostics of diseases. The main complaints that require investigation:

• frequent or difficult excretion of urine;
• sexual disorders – decreased libido, impaired potency;
• discharge of pus from the urethra;
• interruption of the stream of urine during its excretion;
• pain in the groin or in the area above the pubis.

The results of the study are able to confirm the diagnosis, determine the degree of neglect of the disease. Based on it, the doctor may advise home treatment or hospitalization if dangerous symptoms have developed – hematuria.

In chronic diseases, the study of urine is carried out at least 2 times a year in order to notice the transition of the disease to the acute phase at an early stage and prevent complications.

What does urine analysis show about prostatitis

Even at an early stage of the development of the inflammatory process, it is possible to detect its course in a urine sample. Doctors may note that the following indicators are deviated from the norm:

• erythrocytes;
• protein;
• leukocytes.

In a healthy person, their content in the material sample is minimal, with inflammation of the prostate, their number greatly exceeds the norm. Such changes can show the doctor that inflammation of the prostate gland has begun, disrupting the functioning of other organs.

It is impossible to establish a diagnosis only on the basis of the analysis, but his participation in the differential study is invaluable.

Types of urine tests

Determination of the chemical composition and physical properties of urine is carried out by several methods. With prostatitis, various studies can be prescribed, including several options for diagnosing urine.

Based on this, they also need to be collected in different ways. Sometimes the patient has to take a sample for several days so that the laboratory can check each for individual indicators.

The share of determining the daily amount is used analysis according to Nechiporenko. Its essence is that it is necessary to completely collect all the urine excreted by the bladder per day. Usually, this type of diagnosis is resorted to in cases where other analyzes have already been made and showed deviations.

General study

The basis of diagnosis for prostatitis is always a general analysis. It allows you to get a clinical picture of the disease, to identify deviations. This study is assigned first.

It reveals the microbiological picture of the internal state of the organism. If the amount of substances in the sample is changed, the doctor prescribes additional studies. The following is taken into account:

• physical and chemical properties – acidity and density;
• appearance – color, smell, the presence of foreign inclusions;
• biochemical composition – protein, erythrocytes, leukocytes, oxalates.

For research, a urine sample is collected immediately after waking up, in the morning. Only the middle part of the sample will be indicative, that is, you first need to release the urine into the toilet, then into the jar and complete the process again not into it. The container must be sterile, it must be filled with at least 100 ml of urine. If you take an untreated jar, then in a matter of minutes you can observe the darkening and turbidity of the sample, the result will no longer be reliable.

A characteristic sign of the inflammatory process is proteinuria, that is, an increase in the amount of protein in the urine. This deviation alone is not enough to make a diagnosis.

Bacteriological diagnostics

It is possible to determine which bacteria contributed to the development of the disease using the bacteriological seeding method. To do this, part of the urine sample is placed in a nutrient medium that creates the best conditions for the reproduction of bacteria. Normally, urine should be completely sterile. If this is not the case, then in laboratory conditions a sharp increase in the number of bacteria will be noticed within 5-7 days.

If, after the study, bacteria are detected, then the patient will need specific treatment aimed at eliminating them. If the infection is chronic or latent, then a test for bacterial resistance to antibiotics is performed. The collection of analysis is carried out differently. The patient needs to collect all the excreted urine in three different containers.

The result of the analysis will be ready in 8-16 days due to the need to wait for the growth of bacteria.

Cytological examination

In terms of accuracy, the cytological diagnosis of urine is inferior to the study of a smear from the urethra. It is prescribed if the doctor suspects the development of prostate cancer or the appearance of adenoma. The study allows you to detect cancerous and atypical cells in the sample.

A feature of this study is that the first morning portion of urine is not suitable. A man needs to collect the material during the second trip to the toilet, but first you need to wash yourself so as not to distort the result. Simultaneously with this analysis, scraping from the urethra, ultrasound diagnostics are performed.

Deciphering analyzes

Violations in the work of the prostate always lead to a change in the state of urine. The research results can be partly interpreted independently. You can evaluate the following indicators in a urinalysis for prostatitis:

1. Also, there is no protein in the norm, and in the case of a disease, its amount exceeds 0.033 g / l. This indicator cannot directly indicate prostatitis, since the amount of protein compounds increases with other inflammatory processes of the genitourinary system.
2. Erythrocytes in the urine appear with calculous prostatitis or cancer. Normally, they can be found no more than 1 unit, with pathologies, the figure is much higher. He changes drastically.
3. Normally, no more than 3 units are found in leukocytes. Elevated rates are characteristic of a chronic inflammatory process in the prostate gland.
4. With calculous pathology, phosphates are found in urine.

Most often, with prostatitis, the urine sample is cloudy, the color of tea with milk. The smell of the sample in this disease is sharp and fetid. Violated and indicators of acidity, the environment becomes alkaline. Density (SG) in the diagnosis is of secondary importance, it only allows you to exclude other diseases.

It is impossible to determine the presence of prostatitis on your own. This can only be done by a doctor, since he will decipher the results of the research in a comprehensive manner.

What to pay attention to

Even before the sample is delivered to the laboratory, you may be alerted by the color of the biomaterial:

• dark (orange) – occurs in the treatment of certain drugs, the use of brightly colored foods for food;
• pink – is a sign of hematuria, fresh blood is present in the sample, a sure sign of a pathological process in the organs of the genitourinary system;
• red (maroon, almost black) – occurs in acute prostatitis and other dangerous ailments, color changes occur due to blood stasis;
• clots and white threads – appear with purulent inflammation of the prostate, the constant presence of such inclusions occurs with an abscess;
• white flakes – observed when protein appears in urine, indicate problems in the functioning of the bladder and kidneys;
• sticky, foamy or cloudy urine occurs in chronic prostatitis, the density of the sample increases.

You may also notice a foul-smelling urine coming from a male prostatitis sample. If already at this stage the material differs from the parameters of the norm, then this may be the result of one of the types of lesions of the genitourinary system.

In 60% of cases, men are diagnosed with prostatitis, and in the remaining – other inflammations that affect the bladder or kidneys. With pathology, the color of the urine sample may not change for a long time. You should consult a doctor if it remains dark or foamy for a long time.

Why blood appears in the urine and what it threatens

An alarming signal is the detection of blood in a urine sample. In this case, its color changes to red or pink. This condition is called hematuria, its causes are:

1. Melting of the prostate, in which a blood vessel is affected. In such a situation, traces of pus are additionally detected.
2. Injury to the mucous membranes during research.
3. Hyperplasia accompanying chronic inflammation in the prostate. This condition is dangerous because most often the process is malignant.

After the onset of symptoms of hematuria against the background of chronic inflammation of the prostate, every 15 patients are diagnosed with an oncological lesion of the glandular tissue. The appearance of blood often accompanies the development of a malignant tumor, but this is not its only clinical sign.

Every 20 patients have cancer in the worst-case scenario.

Methods of differential diagnosis are aimed at distinguishing a malignant lesion and an acute inflammatory process from urolithiasis, which is also often found together with prostatitis.

When moving, the stones damage the mucous membranes of the kidneys and bladder, which leads to the appearance of blood in the urine. It is possible to distinguish this disease from oncology only by a combination of laboratory and instrumental methods.

Is it necessary to prepare for the test?

It is important to create the right conditions for collecting urine. This will allow you to get a reliable result. Failure to follow the recommendations of the urologist will lead to a false positive result. For this reason, doctors warn all patients about the need to follow simple preparation rules:

• stick to the usual drinking regimen;
• in order not to irritate the urethra, you need to stop eating red meat the day before, do not eat spicy foods and do not drink alcohol;
• if you are taking antibiotics and uroseptics , then you need to inform your doctor about them or stop taking pills, otherwise the picture of inflammation will be blurry;
• do not go to the gym the day before or expose yourself to serious physical exertion.

Many urologists advise to have a hearty dinner before collecting the material, but it is impossible to prepare a sample in advance.

Do not store urine in the refrigerator or collect it in non-sterile containers. Special containers are now sold in pharmacies that have been processed, they are ideal for transporting urine samples.

How to properly collect urine

For laboratory studies, urine is best suited, which has accumulated in the bladder for 5 hours. At night and in the morning, you should not have sex, as this can also affect the quality of the material. Before going to the toilet, be sure to wash the penis and perineum with unscented soap and wipe dry. Urine sample preparation is carried out according to the rules:

• for general analysis – only “average” urine is collected, the beginning and end of urination occurs in the toilet;
• three glass sample (for bacteriological research) – a portion of urine is divided into three sterile containers (initial, medium and residual), nothing is poured out;
• a four-glass sample is collected in a medical institution, not only a full portion of morning urine is sent to the laboratory, but also the secret of the prostate.

Most often, doctors recommend giving urine according to the general scheme or the 4-glass method. In the latter case, there is a chance to make an accurate diagnosis by examining all the samples at once. The material should be on the laboratory assistant’s table no later than 2 hours later.

If you withstand a longer time, then a precipitate will fall to the bottom of the container, microbes will begin to multiply in the sample, it will become cloudy, and mucus will form in it.

What Urologists Say About the Importance of Urinalysis

Doctors consider urine testing to be an important stage in preliminary diagnosis. Only on the basis of data obtained after the analysis of samples, it is possible to make a preliminary diagnosis, detect inflammation and determine the sensitivity of bacteria to antibiotics.

Also, based on the analysis, it is possible to detect the initial stage of the development of oncology against the background of chronic prostatitis.

For patients, determining the composition of urine is one of the few ways to quickly and painlessly clarify the diagnosis. If you approach the collection of material for research correctly, you can significantly reduce the list of possible diseases.

At the same time, it should be understood that analysis cannot be carried out in isolation from other research methods.