NIH Consensus Classification System for Prostatitis
Number | Category | Characteristics | Urine Finding | Premassage | Postmassage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
I | Acute bacterial prostatitis | Acute symptoms of urinary infection | WBC | +/− | + |
Bacteria | +/− | + | |||
II | Chronic bacterial prostatitis | Recurrent urinary infection with same organism | WBC | +/− | + |
Bacteria | +/− | + | |||
III | Chronic prostatitis /chronic pelvic pain syndrome | Primarily symptoms of pain, voiding, and sexual dysfunction | |||
IIIa | Inflammatory | WBC | − | + | |
Bacteria | − | − | |||
IIIb | Noninflammatory* | WBC | − | − | |
Bacteria | − | − | |||
IV | Asymptomatic inflammatory prostatitis | Discovered incidentally during urologic evaluation (eg, prostate biopsy, seminal fluid analysis) for other conditions | WBC | − | + |
Bacteria | − | − | |||
* Previously called prostatodynia. | |||||
+/− means possibly present; + means present; − means absent. | |||||
NIH = National Institutes of Health; WBC = white blood cell. | |||||
Data from Krieger JN, Nyberg L, Nickel JC: NIH consensus definition and classification of prostatitis. JAMA 282:236–237, 1999. | |||||