Urethral pain syndrome and its management

Urethral pain syndrome is occurrence of persistent or recurrent episodic urethral pain usually on voiding with daytime frequency and nocturia, in the absence of proven infection or other obvious pathology. This is a condition of uncertain etiology. The objective of this article is to review etiology, diagnosis, and management of urethral pain syndrome. Since there is paucity of information on randomized trials, search of published literature has been made using keywords such as "urethral pain syndrome", "painful bladder syndrome", "urethral stenosis", and "lower urinary tract symptoms". Urethral pain syndrome is a disease of ambiguous etiology. Diagnosis is mainly based upon symptoms, and investigations are aimed to exclude other conditions affecting lower urinary tract. Various modalities of treatment including antibiotics, alpha-blockers, acupuncture, and laser therapy have been proved successful. Psychological support is very important in this group of women. Management requires multidisciplinary approach, and treatment at its best is by trial and error.

Obstetricians & Gynecologists, Family Physicians.

After completion of this article, the reader should be able to explain that the urethral pain syndrome (UPS) has specific signs and symptoms without specific responses to a variety of treatment options and recall that treatment may require a multidisciplinary approach and a lot of sensitivity by the physician.