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Examination of urethral secretions
Last reviewed: 05.07.2025
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General clinical examination of discharge from the urethra
Discharge from the urethra is examined 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 (prostatorrhea, spermatorrhea, urethrorrhea).
When examining urethral discharge, the number and composition of cellular elements depend mainly on the severity and duration of the inflammatory process. According to the European Guidelines for Urethritis (2001), the diagnosis of urethritis should be confirmed by detecting polynuclear neutrophils in the anterior urethra, since discharge in men does not always indicate pathology. Informative material for the study are smears from the urethra and / or the first portion of urine. Conducting two types of research allows you to identify cases that may be missed when using only one of them. Inflammatory condition of the mucous membrane of the urethra (urethritis) is expressed by the presence of at least 5 polynuclear neutrophils in the field of view with immersion magnification of the microscope. The depth of the pathological process in the urethra is evidenced by the predominance of cylindrical and parabasal epithelial cells in the smears-imprints.
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