Page 1 - Interstitial Cystitis
P. 1
Urological Health
Interstitial cystitis
Interstitial cystitis is a chronic, painful condition of the bladder and/or pelvis. Your doctor will
work with you to develop a long-term treatment plan to achieve symptom control.
nterstitial cystitis (IC) is a painful, chronic condition Symptoms
Iof the bladder. Its cause is not well understood.
It has been suggested that a defect in the bladder Symptoms of IC are variable in nature, timing and
lining allows irritation from unknown substances in the severity. They may include:
urine.
• Increased frequency of urination, both day and
Urine is produced by the kidneys, carried through the night,
ureters and stored in the bladder until it is appropriate • Urgency, the uncontrollable urge to urinate, often
to empty through the urethra. accompanied by increasing pelvic pain or pressure,
and,
The male and female urinary tracts • Burning or aching pain in the pelvic area, including
the bladder, urethra, vagina, testicles, or scrotum.
This pain is often worse before or after urination and,
kidneys in some cases, with sexual intercourse.
Other symptoms may include general muscle aches
and depressed mood. In some, IC may be associated
with other chronic illnesses and pain conditions like
fibromyalgia or irritable bowel syndrome.
ureters
bladder The presence or absence of any of these symptoms
bladder
does not make or rule out the diagnosis of IC.
prostate Diagnosis
urethra
urethra
IC is diagnosed only after the exclusion of all other
bladder possibilities including UTI, sexually transmitted diseases,
urethra bladder cancer, and other disorders with similar
symptoms.
Basic urine and blood tests are often normal. Visual
IC is sometimes referred to as the “Painful Bladder inspection of the bladder (cystoscopy) may be
Syndrome.” Symptoms may resemble those of a helpful in ruling out other problems. A thin instrument
urinary tract infection (UTI) but tests do not show is passed through the urethra into the bladder to
infection and antibiotics are ineffective. IC can affect allow inspection of its lining. Rarely, patients have
people of any age or race. Women are affected characteristic red patches in the bladder lining called
much more often than men (90% of cases). In every Hunner’s ulcers which can be treated at the same
case, treatment is available even if no cure has yet time.
been found.
In IC, gentle filling of the bladder with water
at controlled pressure (hydrodistension) may
cause pinpoint areas of bleeding (referred to as
“glomerulations”) in its lining. This examination is
performed under anesthesia because such stretching
would be very uncomfortable otherwise.
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