Abnormalities in micturition

Micturation Abnormalities Microchapters
Overview
Causes
Differential Diagnosis

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Amandeep Singh M.D.[2]

Overview

Micturition is the act of passage of urine which is a normal physiological process. Any abnormality in urine can cause difficulty in passage of urine. Abnormality of micturition usually present with symptoms like dysuria, nocturia, increased frequency, dribbling, hesitancy and suprapubic tenderness. Various causes include cystitis, pyelonephritis, cervicitis, prostatitis, benign prostatic hyperplasia. It is important to differentiate among the different causes which can help guide the treatment.

Causes

• The causes of abnormalities in micturition includes causes of dysuria and incontinence:
  • Cystitis
  • Urethritis
  • Pyelonephritis
  • Cervicitis
  • Prostatitis
  • Benign prostatic hyperplasia
  • Atrophic vaginitis
  • Trauma

Abnormalities of Micturition Differential Diagnosis

Differentiating the diseases that can cause abnormality in micturition:

Abbreviations: N= Normal, UTI= Urinary tract infection, CBC= Complete blood count, CT= Computed tomography, IBS= Irritable bowel syndrome, DRE= Digital rectal examination, HSV= Herpes simplex virus, RBCs= red blood cells, STI= Sexually transmitted infection, PCR=Polymerase chain reaction, Nl=Normal

Diseases			Clinical manifestations									Para-clinical findings				Gold standard	Additional findings
			Symptoms						Physical examination
												Lab Findings		Imaging
			Fever	Urinary symptoms					Supra-pubic tenderness	Skin lesions	Other	CBC	Urinalysis	Ultrasonography	CT scan
				Dysuria	Frequency	Dribbling	Hesitancy	Nocturia
Inflammatory	Dermatological disorders	Lichen sclerosus	–	+	–	–	+	–	–	Lichenified plaques	–	Nl	Findings of UTI in women is quite often	Nl	Nl	Biopsy	Constipation IBS
		Behcet's syndrome	–	+	+	–	+	+	–	Erythema nodosum Papules Vesicles	Aphthous ulcer in mouth	Nl	Nl	Nl	Nl	None	Neurogenic bladder Genital aphthous ulcers Recurrent cystitis Epididymitis Urethritis
	Infectious diseases	Cystitis	+	+	+	+	+	+	+	Nl	–	Leukopenia	WBC Leukocyte esterase Nitrite	Bladder wall thickening Intraluminal gas in emphysematous cystitis	Hydronephrosis Beaded necklace like in emphysematous cystitis	Urine culture and sensitivity	–
		Urethritis	+	+	+	–	+	–	+	Keratoderma blennorrhagica - in disseminated gonococcal infection Vesicles - HSV Painless ulcer - syphilis Warts - Condyloma acuminatum	–	Leukocytosis	Nl	Nl	Nl	Urethral swab for culture, NAAT	–
		Pyelonephritis	+	+	+	–	–	+	±	Nl	Urgency	Leukocytosis	WBC Leukocyte esterase Ntrite	Hypoechoic when there is edema (swollen kidney) Gas bubbles in emphysematous pyelonephritis	Round swollen kidneys Hypodense appearance Abscesses may not be present	Urinalysis and Urine culture	–
		Diseases	Fever	Dysuria	Frequency	Dribbling	Hesitancy	Nocturia	Suprapubic tenderness	Skin lesions	Other	CBC	Urinalysis	Ultrasonography	CT scan	Gold standard	Additional findings
		Vulvovaginitis	±	+	+	+	+	–	–	Excoriations in vulva Genital ulceration Candida thrush	Thick white discharge	Nl	Nl	Nl	Nl	Microbiological diagnosis Wet mount PCR	–
		Cervicitis	+	±	+	±	–	–	+	Erythematous Friable	Thick yellow green pus	Leukocytosis	WBC	Nl or show PID like feature	Nl or show PID like feature	Culture of vaginal discharge	NAAT for gonocooccal cervicitis
		Prostatitis	+	+	+	+	+	+	±	–	Tender prostate	Leukocytosis	WBC Leukocyte esterase Nitrite	Nl	Nl	Urine culture	Prostate massage for chronic prostatitis leads to raised leukocytes in urine
		Epididymoorchitis	±	+	+	+	–	–	–	–	Cremasteric reflexes present Prehn's sign	Leukocytosis	WBC	Nl	Nl	Urine culture	Ceftriaxone for STI Levofloxacin for coliform bacteria
Non-inflammatory	Anatomic	Urethral stricture	–	+	±	+	–	–	–	–	–	Nl	RBCs	Post void residual; volume is high	–	Retrograde urethrogram+cystoscopy(urodynamic studies)	–
		Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)	–	+	+	+	+	+	–	–	Enlarged and smooth prostate on DRE	Nl	May have UTI like picture ocassionally	Enlarged prostate	–	None	TURP is gold standard treatment
		Diseases	Fever	Dysuria	Frequency	Dribbling	Hesitancy	Nocturia	Suprapubic tenderness	Skin lesions	Other	CBC	Urinalysis	Ultrasonography	CT scan	Gold standard	Additional findings
	Gynecological	Atrophic vaginitis	–	+	+	±	±	+	–	Vaginal dryness Vaginal erythema Excoriation marks	Vaginal discharge	Nl	Nl	Thinning of endometrium	Nl	Clinical examination	–
		Endometriosis	–	+	–	–	–	–	–	–	Dyspareunia Dyschezia	Nl	Nl	Cystic masses attached to adnexa	Cysts	Laparoscopy	Dysmenorrhea Dyspareunia Dyschezia
	Malignancy	Bladder cancer	–	+	+	–	–	–	–	–	Hematuria	Anemia	Hematuria	Nl	Nodal involvement in the pelvis or retroperitoneum, visceral, pulmonary, or osseous metastasis	Cystoscopy and biopsy	–
		Vulvovaginal cancer	–	±	±	±	–	–	–	Edematous vulva Lesion on the inner edges of vulva	–	Nl	When infected, WBC Leukocyte esterase Nitrite	Nl	Contrast enhancement (vascularity) showing the extent of the disease	Biopsy	–
	Iatrogenic	Genitourinary instrumentation/ pelvic irradiation	–	+	±	–	±	±	±	Erythema	–	Leukocytosis maybe present	When infected, WBC Leukocyte esterase Nitrite	Nl	Nl	Culture	–
		Trauma	±	±	–	–	–	–	±	Laceration/bruise	Hematuria	Anemia Leukocytosis	Hematuria	Blood in pelvic cavity	Blood in pelvic cavity	Laparotomy	–