Research and Reports in Urology (Jul 2020)
Evaluation of the Sympathetic Skin Response in Men with Chronic Prostatitis: A Case-Control Study
Abstract
Ali Eslahi,1,2 Hamidreza Farpour,2,3 Azar Hosseini,4 Faisal Ahmed,5 Umayir Chowdhury,4 Hossein-Ali Nikbakht6 1Department of Urology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; 2Shiraz Geriatric Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; 3Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Specialist, Bone and Joint Diseases Research Center, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; 4Student Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; 5Urology Research Center, Al-Thora General Hospital, Department of Urology, Ibb University of Medical Since, Ibb, Yemen; 6Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, IranCorrespondence: Faisal Ahmed Email [email protected]: Etiological factors involved in chronic prostatitis (CP) type IIIb and chronic pelvic pain are not sufficiently understood; however, the nervous system has a significant role in the generation and maintenance of chronic pelvic pain. This study was designed to evaluate the sympathetic skin response (SSR) in men with CP type IIIb compared to normal population.Patients and Methods: For two years, about 14 patients suffering from CP type IIIb according to NIH-CPSI and 26 healthy control men were enrolled in this study. SSR was performed in all the subjects with a standard method. Bilateral palmar and plantar latency and amplitude of SSR were recorded in response to the median and tibial nerve electrical stimulations. SSR is considered abnormal when the latency is prolonged, and the amplitude reduced.Results: SSR latency in the left and right median nerve was significantly prolonged in the patient with CP type IIIb group compared to the control group (p=0.039 and 0.006, respectively). Additionally, the amplitude was reduced in patients with CP type IIIb group compared to the control group in the right tibial nerve (p=0.017).Conclusion: Sympathetic skin response may be a helpful diagnostic test for men with chronic prostatitis type IIIb. However, this observation needs to be validated in a large sample cohort study with long-term follow-up.Keywords: chronic prostatitis, prostate, sympathetic skin response
