ABSTRACT
Urethral pain syndrome, commonly misnamed as urethritis, is diagnosed in women presenting with dysuria with or without frequency, nocturia, and urgency in the absence of evidence of urinary infection. The pain is perceived in the urethra which may be tender to vaginal palpation. For the clinician, the female urethral pain syndrome is a well-known concept. Scientifically, though, this concept suffers tremendously from lack of systematic, epidemiologic, and pathophysiologic studies and an absence of consensus on definitions. Still, there are reasons to believe that this symptom complex is a commonplace affliction.
