Cystitis is an infectious and inflammatory process of the bladder wall.
As a rule, women are more frequently affected than men, and this is due to the female anatomy. Regardless of the severity of the disease, some women do not take cystitis seriously and start using the folk methods to treat the condition at home. This approach is absolutely inappropriate, because this way alleviates only the symptoms that you are suffering from, and the infection in the body is worsened.
In fact, cystitis is more than a frequent urination or unpleasant sensation in the groin area. Diagnosing cystitis requires a number of studies including laboratory, ultrasound, and x-ray. The National Center of Surgery offers all methods of treatment. The National Center of Surgery is a multi-field clinic and, accordingly, modern technologies and services for diagnostic studies are arranged in one area. You can simultaneously get blood or urine analysis, bacteriological study and more.
Because the disease is very common and many people are worried about this, we decided to give the reader information about cystitis and general urinary tract infections.
Nino Shonia, a nephrologist of the National Center of Surgery, is talking about these topics.
- Dr. Nino, what are the symptoms of urinary tract infection?
- The urinary system includes kidney, ureter, bladder, and urethra. Infection can manifest in any of this parts. It is divided into two parts, the upper urinary tract infections that include an inflammation of kidneys (call pyelonephritis), as well as lower urinary tract infections, including ureter, urinary bladder, and urethra. It should be noted that pyelonephritis is manifested as a more severe pathology. In both cases, a similar complex of symptoms may be revealed. The characteristic symptoms are fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, chills, sweating, painful urination, back pain, general weakness.
- What would you tell us about the causes of urinary tract infection?
- Like other body fluids, urine, if it has no bacterias, is sterile. The existence of bacteria is already an anomaly and the risk of urinary tract infection increases. The cause of the upper urinary tract infections, pyelonephritis, can be divided into two parts- primary and secondary. Hematogenous infections are primary and urological pathologies - secondary. It occurs when the urinary passage is blocked and the urinary tract infection is caused by this blockage. The cause of the secondary can be due to the renal stone, anomalies of the urinary system, hypertrophy of the prostate, ureteral reflux and others.
The main cause is the Escherichia Coli, and then the staphylococcus, enterococcus, rarely Klebsiella. The risk of urinary tract infection is quite high, for instance, it is estimated that 2 to 8% of pregnant women have had a urinary tract infection caused by the compression of the urethra by the fetus, which causes a blockage of the urinary passage. The risk factors include catheterization of the urinary bladder, renal stones, various pathologies. Acute pyelonephritis begins with a sudden onset of high temperature, back pain, general adynamia, urinary passage troubles. The patient complains of painful urination. Symptoms include abdominal pain, general weakness, and sweating.
- Let's focus on cystitis. Please tell us about causes of cystitis.
- The cause of cystitis may be a common cold and intimate relationship, called honeymoon cystitis. The cause may be infectious (bacterial, viral, fungal, parasitic), allergic, bladder cancer, autoimmune disease, medication (after chemotherapy, radiation therapy). The main cause of cystitis is Escherichia Coli, as well as chlamydia, ureaplasma, mycoplasma, poor personal hygiene, overuse of hormones or antibiotics, decreased immunity, a high concentration of toxic substances in the urine. The exact cause of non-bacterial cyst is unknown, but it is suggested that it may be psychogenic, immunologic, or caused by neuropathy. Cystitis can also be developed as a result of insufficiency of the urinary bladder wall tissue. It is believed that the main cause of inflammation of the urinary bladder is the lack of molecular structure of the bladder wall, and the substances existing in the bladder can easily penetrate in the bladder wall and cause inflammation.
Cystitis mainly affects women and compared with men, cystitis in women is five times more frequent. This is related to the specificity of the genitourinary organ anatomy, namely women, a urethra is more wide, straight and short, it is 2,5-3 cm long and therefore, urethral infections, from the vagina and anal region, can easily reach the urinary bladder. 20-25% of women have had cystitis and 10% have a chronic recurrent stage. Of course, cystitis manifest in men, but with less percentage. In this case, the urine is more narrow and long (15-30 cm).
In the case of cystitis, the first symptom, which is most commonly manifested and bothers the person, is the frequent urination. In normal, healthy conditions, the frequency of urination is 4-5 times in 24 hours, but it is more frequent during cystitis. At the same time, urination is painful and amount of urine is decreased, unpleasant sensation in the groin area, difficulty urinating, pain in the lower abdomen can manifest. Urine can have an unpleasant smell. It may have dark or pale color. A slight increase of body temperature, blood drops after urination, joint and back pain. The cause of blood drops during cystitis is inflammation of the bladder mucosa. As for dark color and smell, this indicates that urine contains high amounts of leukocytes and bacteria. Cystitis not characterized by high temperature, because a few bacteria are absorbed from the bladder wall. If there is a high fever, the temperature is 39-40 degree Celsius and is accompanied with chills, we should assume that the pyelonephritis has developed on the basis of ascending infection.
- How is cystitis diagnosed and treated at the National Center of Surgery?
- Diagnosis of urinary tract infections is based on complete examination of the patient, detailed data collection, laboratory, ultrasound and x-ray studies. It is necessary to obtain heart rate and pressure, temperature, check the skin turgor. In case of young men, diagnosis of true pelvic inflammatory diseases is confirmed by ultrasound. A pregnancy test is given to young women.
Urine analysis and interpretation of this analysis is of great importance. We must collect the urine according to all rules. It is necessary to wash the perineum before urination to prevent the contamination of urine with bacteria that reside on the skin around the urethra. For the analysis, the first portion of the urine should not be collected, it should go to the toilet, it is desirable to collect the middle portion in the container, that should be sent for analysis, from about 20 to 50 milliliters. It is unacceptable to collect urine in other container and then transfer to a sterile one. Urine should be collected directly in the container, according to the rules.
The presence of leukocytes, bacteria, protein or blood in the urine indicates urinary tract infection. Blood analysis can show leukocytosis, neutrophilia, increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate and anemia. The highest importance is given to the ultrasound studies. First of all, we need to determine whether the urinary passage is blocked.
In case of cystitis, an ultrasound study of the urinary bladder is very important, in particular, we will pay attention to the thickness of the wall and the viscosity of the content. If urine contains large quantities of blood, and it is also might be visually prominent, it is possible to do a cystoscopy (to visualize the inside of your bladder), and in case of lithiasis, the computer tomography and consultation with a urologist is recommended.
- What is the relationship between cystitis and poor hygiene?
- An ascending infection plays an important role in the formation of cystitis, and therefore the protection of hygiene is unconditionally necessary! It is desirable to get a short, warm shower that performs not only the function of the hygiene but also is a way of relaxation and a relief for the patient. The direction should be from the front to the back. Use warm, boiled water. Use the soap or intimate hygiene products. Hot water or long shower is not desirable because the urinary bladder wall microcirculation can be damaged. The urine retention is not allowed because at this time a urine bladder is a good environment for the growth of bacteria. Also, it is desirable to empty the whole bladder after urination. After urination, you should clean from the front to the back. As for the sexual intercourse, urination is recommended after a sexual intercourse, because bacteria accumulated in the urethra can be washed away. It is important that the gastrointestinal tract should be monitored, constipation is not desired. Try not to get cold, especially avoid getting in the swimming pool after overheating, especially when you are getting a suntan. Wear cotton underwear, refuse to wear tight clothes. It is not desirable to sit in the same position for a long time. Take 2 liters of fluid, include soups in the diet, cranberry soup, for example, increases the acidity of the urine, preventing the development of bacteria.
National Center of Surgery address – Tbilisi, Digomi Chachava street N5.
You can contact the Call-center of the National Center of Surgery at 577 11 91 19;
If you have some questions, you can contact the Nephrologist of the National Center of Surgery Nino Shonia at 577 32 77 43
Wish you health!
