Case perspective
How a typical case of chronic prostatitis misdiagnosis unfolds — from first symptom to a named diagnosis — in the practice of Prof. Dr Renaud Bollens.
Chronic pelvic pain in men is very frequently labelled chronic prostatitis or chronic pelvic pain syndrome. Repeat courses of antibiotics follow, cultures come back negative, and the pain continues unchanged — a strong sign the prostate was never the source.
Nerve pain does not respond to antibiotics. When the pain is burning rather than aching, positional rather than constant, and accompanied by numbness or hypersensitivity of the perineum, the pudendal nerve deserves a proper look.
Dr Bollens reviews previous urology work-ups in full before drawing conclusions. The aim is not to overturn earlier care but to ask a question that was never asked: is this nerve pain, and can it be treated surgically?
Every case at Pelvic Institute is assessed by the operating surgeon, with more than 600 pelvic procedures behind that judgment.