Proposal and thinking of renaming type Ⅲ prostatitis to prostate-pelvic syndrome / 中华泌尿外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Prostatitis is one of the common diseases of uro-andrology. There are still many deficiencies in the existing classification methods of prostatitis. In traditional classification criteria, the etiology of "nonbacterial prostatitis" is not clear, and it is easily confused with "prostate pain" . NIH classification relies on the Meares-Stamey 4-glass test, which is complex and with a high false-positive rate, thus limiting its clinical application. In addition, the WBC count in prostate fluid could not reflect the actual condition of the disease. The concept of type Ⅲ prostatitis, or chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome, does not regard the pelvic floor and lower urinary tract as a functional entirety. Renaming type Ⅲ prostatitis into prostate-pelvic syndrome, exploring and establishing the symptom-based criteria of diagnosis and efficacy assessment, would better reflect the intrinsic nature of the disease, and meet the therapeutic goals to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life in type Ⅲ prostatitis patients.