This site is intended for healthcare professionals

account_circleSign in
Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Acute prostatitis

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Acute bacterial prostatitis is an acute focal or diffuse suppurative inflammation of the prostate gland.

Acute prostatitis is a bacterial infection needing prompt treatment with antibiotics.

Gram-negative bacteria are the most common causative pathogens in acute prostatitis, most commonly (1)

  • Escherichia coli,
  • Proteus species,
  • Klebsiella species and
  • Pseudomonas species

The prostate is usually involved as a consequence of:

  • direct extension from the posterior urethra or urinary bladder
  • distant spread in the blood or lymphatics

Occasionally, infection may spread from the rectum.

Complications of acute prostatitis include:

  • acute urinary retention secondary to prostatic oedema,
  • chronic prostatitis,
  • prostatic abscess,
  • bacteraemia,
  • epididymitis and
  • pyelonephritis

Notes:

  • in England, resistance of E. coli (the main causative organism of acute prostatitis) in laboratory processed urine specimens to the following antibiotics is:
    • ciprofloxacin: 10.6% (varies by area from 7.8% to 13.7%)
    • trimethoprim: 30.3% (varies by area from 27.1% to 33.4%) (Public Health England. Antimicrobial resistance quarterly surveillance: March 2018)

Reference:

Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Create a free account

Add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation, such as a web address or phone number. This information will always be displayed when you visit this page