Post Traumatic Urethritis and IC

[Cindylooking]

About four months ago I had an abdominal hysterectomy. Kept ovaries.  Uterus and Cervix are gone.  Surgery suggested due to anemia and heavy bleeding.  24 hours post op, a nurse removed my foley catheter while I was standing up and did NOT deflate the balloon.  It was very painful and arterial blood was going everywhere.  Luckily I was on my morphine drip.  Six weeks post op, my family doc told me I had a UTI.  Put me on meds and went back 10 days later for urine check only to find that I still had a bad UTI.  Put me on different meds and UTI still present 10 days later.  She sent me for pelvic sono which indicated that I was not emptying my bladder.  Then sent me for a urology consult.  Urologist did a cystoscopy and found a tear, scarring and inflamation of the urethra.  He diagnosed it as Post Traumatic Urethritis secondary to scarring.  Put me on Urised, flomax, bextra and escrace cream.  One month later, went back to urologist with very little relief.  Family doctor put me on effexor due to anxiety over this ordeal.  Have constant burning, frequent urination, 20 times a day, and still very tender and hurting urethra.  UA clear the last three tests.  

Urologist did a PST test which I tested positive for.  He is telling me I have Interstitial Cystitis.  I'm scheduled for 6 DSMO treatments along with daily doses of Elmiron.  He told me that the UTI's I had for the past 3 months along with the trauma from the cath. triggered the IC.  I'm 46 years old (female) and have never had bladder issues in my life.  

Could this be possible that the trauma from this cath incident and the UTI's caused IC?  What about my tear/scarring of my urethra?  He said he did see strictures in the urethra a month ago.  Should another cystoscopy be done to see if strictures have formed when the tear heals?  

Any advise you can give would be greatly appreciated.  

Thank you.

Cindy

[Kevin Pho, MD]

PST is a pretty specific test - studies show that it is 98 percent specific, meaning that IC is present in 98 percent of cases when the test is positive.  Certainly the trauma and the chronic UTIs can lead to the IC.  DSMO treatment is reasonable, and helps in approximately 50 percent of cases.  

If the symptoms continue, I would consider repeating the cystoscopy to ensure there isn't anything else that could be causing the symptoms.  

Followup with your personal physician is essential.

This answer is not intended as and does not substitute for medical advice - the information presented is for patient education only. Please see your personal physician for further evaluation of your individual case.

Kevin, M.D.
Medical Weblog:
kevinmd_b

[Cindylooking]

0

[mmarc]

0