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Acute and Chronic Prostatitis

John C. Lam, MD
William Stokes, MD

American Family Physician. 2024;110(1):45-51.

Author disclosure: No relevant financial relationships.

This clinical content conforms to AAFP criteria for CME.

Prostatitis is a common clinical syndrome classified into four categories: acute bacterial, chronic bacterial, chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome, and asymptomatic. Bacterial prostatitis (acute and chronic) is primarily diagnosed with history and microbiologic studies, although physical examination can be helpful to localize infection within the genitourinary system. Bacterial prostatitis is treated with antibiotics; the span of treatment is guided by the duration of symptoms and presence of complications. Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome is the most common form of prostatitis and is a diagnosis of exclusion with no standardized treatments. Asymptomatic prostatitis does not require treatment and is usually diagnosed incidentally during the workup for other urologic presentations.

JOHN C. LAM, MD, FRCPC, is a clinical instructor in the Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles.

WILLIAM STOKES, MD, FRCPC, is a clinical lecturer at the Provincial Laboratory for Public Health, Alberta Precision Laboratories, Canada; the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada; and the Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.

Address correspondence to John C. Lam, MD, FRCPC, at johlam@alumni.ucalgary.ca.

Author disclosure: No relevant financial relationships.

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