From: www.tiscali.co.uk/lifestyle/
Mail
My account
What is penile discharge?
Penile discharge is the abnormal loss of fluid that is not urine or semen from the urethra (urine tube) at the tip of the penis. It is commonly the sign of a sexually transmitted disease (STD), and requires prompt and accurate diagnosis and treatment, usually by staff at a specialist genitourinary medicine (GUM) or STD clinic.
What are the symptoms?
The discharge can vary in amount from scanty to profuse, and in
colour from clear to yellow/green. The timing can vary from loss in the morning
only, to throughout the day. The discharge is often accompanied by other
symptoms such as:
What are the causes of penile discharge?
Common causes are:
Non-gonococcal or non-specific urethritis (NSU)
Routine tests are not available to detect all of these
infections, so the cause of the NSU might not be found. In some patients, no
sexual contact has occurred and the symptoms are blamed on irritants, soaps or
detergents, but no firm evidence exists to support this theory.
How is the diagnosis made?
Gonococcal urethritis is diagnosed in 98 per cent of men by
microscopic examination of the discharge obtained from a urethral swab. Other
infections are less easily diagnosed. Between 6 and 11 per cent of sexually
active UK men carry chlamydia in their urethra with minimal or no symptoms. The
development of more sensitive tests such as polymerase chain reaction and
ligase chain reaction might allow for more precise diagnosis, particularly in
patients with no symptoms, especially if they are sexual contacts of proven
infected women - but this is not used routinely in STD clinics.
How is penile discharge treated?
In addition, doxycycline 100mg twice daily for seven days is
often given to treat chlamydia in case it is present. Sexual partners are given
similar treatment.
NSU
Contact tracing
Conventional therapy for NSU fails in 25 per cent of cases.
Longer courses of antibiotics have not been shown to be of benefit and
re-infection from a new or untreated partner is the usual cause. It is
important to realise that recurrence of NSU can cause considerable
psychological strain on individuals and relationships and it is important that
both partners in a relationship have a full explanation and understanding of
the nature of the condition.
NSU is the most common form of penile discharge accounting
for over 60,000 new cases per year in England alone. The number of cases has
fallen slightly over the past three years. Men aged between 20 and 35 years are
most commonly affected. Several different organisms ('bugs') can cause the
syndrome:
Penile discharge or urethritis is diagnosed by finding white
blood cells (neutrophils or pus cells) on a urethral swab or 'first catch'
urine sample (ie urine taken from when you first begin to pass water). The
infecting organism might be identified from these samples. Ideally, the patient
should be seen in an STD clinic for prompt examination of specimens because
transfer of specimens to a hospital laboratory can lead to a missed diagnosis.
The colour and consistency of the discharge does not help to distinguish NSU
from gonococcal urethritis.
Usual antibiotic treatment includes doxycycline 100mg twice
daily for seven days or a single dose of azithromycin 1g if the infection is
due to
It is essential that sexual contacts of men with gonococcal
urethritis and NSU are traced and treated, preferably in an STD clinic. Without
treatment of sexual contacts, recurrence is likely and treatment will probably
fail. Pregnant or potentially pregnant sexual partners should not be given
erythromycin or tetracycline antibiotics (including doxycycline).
The documents contained in this web site are presented for information purposes only. The material is in no way intended to replace professional medical care or attention by a qualified practitioner. The materials in this web site cannot and should not be used as a basis for diagnosis or choice of treatment. Conditions for use
Font size