Examination from the urethra
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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General clinical examination of the discharge from the urethra
Detachable from the urethra is studied mainly for the diagnosis of the inflammatory process in non-gonococcal urethritis, gonorrhea, trichomoniasis, chlamydia, syphilis, etc. In addition, the study allows differentiating a number of pathological and physiological conditions characterized by discharge from the urethra (prostatea, spermatorrhea, urethraea).
In the study of the discharge from the urethra, the amount and composition of the cell elements depend mainly on the severity and duration of the inflammatory process. According to the European guidelines on urethritis (2001), the diagnosis of urethritis should be confirmed by the detection of polynucleated neutrophils in the anterior part of the urethra, since discharge in men does not always indicate a pathology. The informative material for the study is the smears from the urethra and / or the first portion of urine. Carrying out two types of research allows us to identify cases that can be missed when only one of them is used. Inflammatory state of the mucous membrane of the urethra (urethritis) is expressed by the presence of at least 5 polynucleated neutrophils in the field of vision when the microscope is immersed. The depth of the pathological process in the urethra is indicated by the predominance of epithelium in the smears-prints of the cylindrical and parabasal cells.
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