Etiological factors involved in chronic prostatitis (CP) type IIIb and chronic pelvic pain are not sufficiently understood; however, the nervous system has a significant role in the generation and maintenance of chronic pelvic pain. This study was designed to evaluate the sympathetic skin response (SSR) in men with CP type IIIb compared to normal population.
For two years, about 14 patients suffering from CP type IIIb according to NIH-CPSI and 26 healthy control men were enrolled in this study. SSR was performed in all the subjects with a standard method. Bilateral palmar and plantar latency and amplitude of SSR were recorded in response to the median and tibial nerve electrical stimulations. SSR is considered abnormal when the latency is prolonged, and the amplitude reduced.
SSR latency in the left and right median nerve was significantly prolonged in the patient with CP type IIIb group compared to the control group (p=0.039 and 0.006, respectively). Additionally, the amplitude was reduced in patients with CP type IIIb group compared to the control group in the right tibial nerve (p=0.017).
Sympathetic skin response may be a helpful diagnostic test for men with chronic prostatitis type IIIb. However, this observation needs to be validated in a large sample cohort study with long-term follow-up.
Research and reports in urology. 2020 Jul 09*** epublish ***
Ali Eslahi, Hamidreza Farpour, Azar Hosseini, Faisal Ahmed, Umayir Chowdhury, Hossein-Ali Nikbakht
Department of Urology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran., Shiraz Geriatric Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran., Student Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran., Urology Research Center, Al-Thora General Hospital, Department of Urology, Ibb University of Medical Since, Ibb, Yemen., Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran.