Purulent discharge from the female urethra

Urinating is something we all have to do every day. Urination is not only beneficial to the body's metabolism, but also can eliminate toxins from the body and keep people healthy. Stress at work and irregular diet in life may cause confusion in the body, and the female urethra may also be affected to a certain extent, such as purulent secretions in the urethra. Why does this happen? What are the medical explanations?

You may have urethritis. Urethritis is a common disease, which refers to the inflammation of the urethral mucosa, and is more common in women. Clinically, it can be divided into acute and chronic, nonspecific urethritis and gonococcal urethritis. The latter two have similar clinical manifestations and must be differentiated based on medical history and bacteriological examination. It is mostly caused by retrograde invasion of pathogenic bacteria into the urethra.

The common causes of urethritis are as follows: ① Urethral injury: abrasions of the urethral mucosa caused by urethral instrument examination can destroy the defense function of the urethral mucosa and lead to bacterial infection; ② Foreign bodies in the urethra: foreign bodies inserted from the outside or stones in the urethra, etc., can cause urethral infection if they stay there for a long time; ③ Urethral obstruction: such as stenosis of the foreskin opening, stenosis of the external urethral opening, urethral stenosis, posterior urethral valve, urethral tumor, female hymen umbrella, fusion of the hymen at the urethral opening, etc., due to poor urination, urine accumulates in the urethra and can cause secondary urethral infection; ④ Inflammation of adjacent organs, such as prostatitis, seminal vesiculitis, vaginitis or cervicitis, can spread to the urethra, which is often a stubborn lesion of chronic posterior urethritis; ⑤ It is often related to sexual life, and unclean sexual life can easily cause urethral infection.

Clinical manifestations

Frequent urination, painful urination, urgent urination and hematuria. In the acute phase, men may have urethral secretions, which are mucous at first and then purulent. Women have less secretions. When it becomes chronic, it manifests as urethral stinging and discomfort during urination. The urethral secretions decrease and become thin and serous. During the acute attack, there is dull pain in the suprapubic area and perineum, and the urethral opening is red and has secretions.

examine

Urinalysis shows an increase in white blood cell count or pyuria, accompanied by an increase in red blood cells, and a few cases show gross hematuria. The three-cup urine test shows a large number of pus cells and red blood cells in the first cup, while the second and third cups are basically normal. The number of bacteria in first-stream urine cell culture is significantly higher than that in midstream urine. In a smear examination of urethral or vaginal secretions, intracellular or extracellular gonococci may be seen in gonococcal urethritis. Nonspecific urethritis can be cultured with secretions or anterior urethral swabs, and a large number of bacteria may grow. If no bacteria are found in secretion smears and cultures, there is a possibility of mycoplasma or chlamydia infection, and special methods of culture or PCR examination can be performed.

Chronic urethritis requires urethrocystoscopy to clarify the cause of the disease. Sometimes a metal urethral probe can be used to test whether there is stricture in the urethra. Urethral angiography can be performed when necessary. In the acute phase, the use of instruments for examination in the urethra should be avoided.