Prostatodynia: clinical and urodynamic characteristics

Twenty patients with prostatodynia were studied urodynamically with synchronous video-pressure-flow studies and electromyography of the external urethral sphincter. The most striking finding was a significant increase in maximum urethral closure pressure compared to an age and sex-matched control group. Typically, peak and average urinary flow rates were decreased. Another prominent feature was incomplete funneling of the bladder neck during voiding with an accompanying urethral narrowing at the level of the external urethral sphincter. These findings are not consistent with a diagnosis of tension myalgia of the pelvic floor or detrusor-striated sphincter dyssynergia but suggest a primary abnormality involving the pelvic sympathetic nervous system. We believe that more advanced methods than those available currently are needed to elucidate fully the role of the autonomic nervous system, especially its sympathetic component, in the etiology of prostatodynia.