Patient's question:
Patient Gender:Male
Detailed Condition and Purpose of Consultation:
I would like to ask why men experience rectal fullness when they have prostatitis. Thank you!
Doctor's answer:
Hello: The clinical manifestations of acute prostatitis vary depending on different pathological types and different routes of infection. Catarrhal and follicular prostatitis may be asymptomatic, while solid prostatitis has typical systemic and local symptoms. Hematogenous infection leads to a sudden onset with acute systemic infection signs or sepsis. Prostatitis caused by urinary tract infection often presents with significant urinary symptoms. Symptoms are generally classified into five categories.1. Systemic symptoms: Fatigue, weakness, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, high fever, chills, collapse, or sepsis-like symptoms. In acute onset, systemic symptoms may mask local symptoms.
2. Local symptoms: Heavy pressure in the perineum or suprapubic region, worsening with prolonged sitting or defecation, and radiating to the waist, lower abdomen, back, thighs, etc.
3. Urinary symptoms: Burning pain during urination, urinary urgency, frequency, dribbling, and purulent urethral discharge. Edema of the bladder neck may cause difficulty urinating, thinning or interruption of urine flow, and severe cases may lead to urinary retention.
4. Rectal symptoms: Rectal fullness, urinary urgency, defecation pain, and white discharge from the urethra during defecation.
5. Sexual symptoms: Decreased libido, dyspareunia, impotence, and hematospermia.
If a patient with acute prostatitis exhibits the aforementioned symptoms for more than 7–10 days, with persistent fever and elevated white blood cell and neutrophil counts, suspicion of prostatitis abscess formation should be raised. Abscesses are more common in individuals aged 20–40 and are often characterized by rectal symptoms and urinary retention. In cases of intraprostatic abscess, after the edema of the ejaculatory duct subsides, a large amount of purulent blood may be expelled through the urethra, similar to an abscess rupture, with symptoms becoming immediately apparent.