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Patient handout

Prostatitis spectrum (NIH I/II/IIIa/IIIb/IV) — acute bacterial + chronic + CP/CPPS

PRODUCTION

1. Your condition

This handout is for prostatitis spectrum (nih i/ii/iiia/iiib/iv) — acute bacterial + chronic + cp/cpps. Your care team identified this based on: fever + perineal / pelvic / suprapubic pain + dysuria + tender enlarged prostate on dre — acute bacterial prostatitis nih i (krieger 1999 pmid 10422990).

Other reasons your team may use this plan: chronic pelvic / perineal pain ≥3 mo + luts ± ejaculatory pain — cp/cpps nih iii (schaeffer nejm 2006); recurrent uti in adult man with same organism — chronic bacterial prostatitis nih ii (eau 2013); acute febrile illness within 1–7 d of trus-bx → trus-bx-induced bacterial prostatitis (often fq-resistant e. coli) (liss aua 2014).

2. Your medications

Take these medications exactly as prescribed. Do not stop or change a dose without talking to your provider.

MedicationStarting doseHowWhenWhat it does
ceftriaxone1–2 g IV q24hIVq24h × 24–72 h until afebrile + PO toleranceEAU 2013 + Schaeffer 2006 — empiric IV pending culture; broad gram-negative coverage; PO step-down per culture (PMID 17050893)
ciprofloxacin500 mg PO BID (or 400 mg IV q12h if NPO)PO/IVBID × 4–6 wk totalFQ achieves excellent prostate tissue penetration; first-line PO step-down after IV ceftriaxone; 4–6 wk total to prevent chronic evolution (EAU 2013)
levofloxacin750 mg PO daily (or IV)PO/IVonce daily × 4–6 wk totalFQ alternative with QD dosing; same prostate penetration profile
trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole160/800 mg (DS) PO BIDPOBID × 4–6 wk totalEAU 2013 alternative — good prostate penetration; only if susceptible per culture

Plan: Prostatitis — NIH I/II/IIIa/IIIb/IV stratified regimen: acute IV→PO ceftriaxone+FQ × 4–6 wk; chronic FQ × 4–6 wk; CP/CPPS UPOINT multimodal; sepsis broad-spectrum + drainage; TRUS-bx FQ-resistant empirics

3. When to call your provider

Contact your care team if any of the following happen:

  • Fever / sepsis / poor PO tolerance → ED (EAU 2013)
  • Non-responder at 48–72 h → admit + imaging for abscess (EAU 2013)
  • Refractory CP/CPPS on multimodal at 6–12 mo → pain specialist + tertiary urology center (AUA 2019)

4. When to seek emergency care

Call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room right away if you have:

  • NIH I — acute bacterial prostatitis: fever + perineal / pelvic pain + dysuria + tender enlarged prostate on DRE (Krieger 1999 PMID 10422990)
  • Septic appearance + fluctuant DRE mass OR imaging confirms abscess — STAT drainage + broad-spectrum + ICU (EAU 2013; SCC 2026)(life-threatening)
  • Acute febrile illness within 1–7 d of TRUS-bx — often FQ-resistant E. coli; empiric ertapenem / pip-tazo pending culture (Liss AUA 2014)

5. Follow-up

Outpatient urology if non-responder or chronic recurrent; CP/CPPS multimodal team (urology + PT + pain + mental health); counsel return precautions in TRUS-bx context (EAU 2013; AUA 2019)

6. Sources

Guideline: Krieger NIH classification 1999 (I/II/IIIa/IIIb/IV) + Schaeffer NEJM 2006 chronic prostatitis review + EAU prostatitis 2013 + Aoun CP/CPPS multimodal 2017 + AUA chronic pelvic pain 2019 (UPOINT) + Liss TRUS-bx augmented prophylaxis AUA 2014 + FDA FQ Black Box 2016 + SCC 2026 sepsis bundle (urosepsis pathway)

  1. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10422990
  2. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17050893
  3. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19118880