Urethra Health Dictionary

Trauma Injury to the urethra is often the result of severe trauma to the pelvis – for example, in a car accident or as the result of a fall. Trauma can also result from catheter insertion (see CATHETERS) or the insertion of foreign bodies into the urethra. The signs are the inability to pass urine, and blood at the exit of the urethra. The major complication of trauma is the development of a urethral stricture (see below).

Urethritis is in?ammation of the urethra from infection.

Causes The sexually transmitted disease GONORRHOEA affects the urethra, mainly in men, and causes severe in?ammation and urethritis. Non-speci?c urethritis (NSU) is an in?ammation of the urethra caused by one of many di?erent micro-organisms including BACTERIA, YEAST and CHLAMYDIA.

Symptoms The classic signs and symptoms are a urethral discharge associated with urethral pain, particularly on micturition (passing urine), and DYSURIA.

Treatment This involves taking urethral swabs, culturing the causative organism and treating it with the appropriate antibiotic. The complications of urethritis include stricture formation.

Stricture This is an abrupt narrowing of the urethra at one or more places. Strictures can be a result of trauma or infection or a congenital abnormality from birth. Rarely, tumours can cause strictures.

Symptoms The usual presenting complaint is one of a slow urinary stream. Other symptoms include hesitancy of micturition, variable stream and terminal dribbling. Measurement of the urine ?ow rate may help in the diagnosis, but often strictures are detected during cystoscopy (see CYSTOSCOPE).

Treatment The traditional treatment was the periodic dilation of the strictures with ‘sounds’

– solid metal rods passed into the urethra. However, a more permanent solution is achieved by cutting the stricture with an endoscopic knife (optical urethrotomy). For more complicated long or multiple strictures, an open operation (urethroplasty) is required.... urethra, diseases of and injury to

A group of symptoms of unknown cause. It mainly affects women, and occasionally men, with pain and discomfort in the lower abdomen, a frequent urge to urinate and, in women, pain in the area of the VULVA. Investigation rarely results in any abnormal ?ndings. Postmenopausal women (see MENOPAUSE), who are the most common sufferers, may have in?ammation of the vulva due to thinning of the tissues in that area. Treatment is supportive, with the patient being advised to drink a lot of ?uid and maintain a high standard of personal hygiene.... urethral syndrome

 A tender easily-bleeding bright red swelling at the urinary outlet of the vagina. About the size of a large pill. Not cancerous but painful on intercourse and on passing urine. Treatment. Tincture Thuja, 5 drops in water morning and evening, internal. Topical application of much diluted oil of Eucalyptus over a long period has been successful. Surgical intervention usually successful. ... caruncle, urethral

The procedure in which a urethral stricture in a male is widened by inserting a slim, roundtipped instrument through the opening of the urethra at the tip of the penis.... urethral dilatation

A fluid that flows from the urethra in some cases of urethritis caused by infection.... urethral discharge

A rare condition in which the male urethra becomes narrowed and sometimes shortened as a result of shrinkage of scar tissue within its walls. Scar tissue may form after injury to the urethra or after persistent urethritis. The stricture may make passing urine or ejaculation difficult or painful, and it may cause some deformation of the penis when erect. Treatment is usually by urethral dilatation.... urethral stricture

A set of symptoms, usually affecting women, that are very similar to cystitis but which occur in the absence of infection.... urethral syndrome, acute