Diagnosis of Bladder infections

Health encyclopaedia - Alphabetical Topic List

| A |

| B |

| C |

| D |

| E |

| F |

| G |

| H |

| I |

| J |

| K |

| L |

| M |

| N |

| O |

| P |

| Q |

| R |

| S |

| T |

| U |

| V |

| W |

| X |

| Y |

Your GP or practice nurse will usually require a urine sample, as with most urinary tract infections, to diagnose your infection.

You may be asked for a midstream specimen of urine, which is when you begin urinating into the toilet, then stop. Then you urinate a little into the sterile sample pot, and finally finish off in the toilet. It can be difficult to get a midstream sample from children, so ask your GP or nurse for advice.

If the cause of your infection is a straightforward bacterial infection, further test are not usually needed. However, if you have repeated infections, you may need tests to see whether there is an underlying problem such as damage to your bladder, or whether you are simply prone to cystitis. You might need an ultrasound scan to examine your bladder, or blood tests to see if you have infections in other parts of your body. Magnetic resonance imaging (an MRI scan) might be used to see if you have kidney stones or a tumour, which might be causing symptoms.

In men, if you have a bladder infection you may be examined to see if you have a prostate problem (see Prostate disease for further information).

If the cause of your bladder problem is not clear, you might have cystoscopy. This is when a tiny viewing tube is passed through the urethra, the opening that urine leaves the body through. This enables doctors to look for scars, sores, and other problems inside the bladder, and is usually done under general or epidural anaesthetic. You might also need a bladder biopsy, when a tiny sample of the tissue in your bladder is taken for examination and tests.