Electrophysiological Identification of Central Sensitization in Patients with Chronic Prostatitis.

PURPOSE

Chronic Prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome (CP/CPPS) is a chronic pain condition and a com­mon problem in urology clinics. Although many different etiologies and mechanisms exist, the exact cause of the disease has been unknown. Central sensitization (CS) is defined as an augmentation of responsiveness of central cortical neurons to input from peripheral nociceptive structures. Somato-sensory evoked potentials (SEPs) is an electroneurophysiological method to assess cortical activity in somatosensory area of brain related to sensorial stimuli. We aimed to determine the presence of CS using the SEPs of dorsal penile nerve stimulation in patients with CP/CPPS.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Seventeen male patients diagnosed CP/CPPS and 17 male healthy controls were pro­spectively included in the study. For SEP study, electrical stimulus was applied with penile ring electrodes. Re­cording electrodes were placed as active to Cz' and reference electrode on Fz' according to the 10-20 Interna­tional System. Latency of N50 was defined as the second negative (up-ward) deflection of the W-shaped averaged cortical waveform.

RESULTS

N50 latencies were significantly shortened in the patient group compared to the healthy controls (P < .001).

CONCLUSION

These results support the presence of central sensitization because of exaggerated trans-mission of pain sensation to the somatosensory cortex. Therefore, normalization of transmission might be an important step in treatment of pain in patients with CP/CPPS. This study can be counted as an important guiding on pathogenesis and treatment of disease.