To evaluate the possibility that patients with inflammatory and noninflammatory chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) might present with different symptoms. Patients with CP/CPPS present with characteristic symptoms without bacteriuria. The new National Institutes of Health consensus suggests that CP/CPPS can be divided into inflammatory and noninflammatory categories.

Standardized symptom surveys were completed by 130 subjects who met the criteria for CP/CPPS after clinical examination and urethral, urine, expressed prostatic secretion (EPS), and seminal fluid analysis evaluations.

When classified by either EPS or postprostatic massage urine (VB3) findings, subjects with and without inflammation had similar symptoms. However, when classified using the combination of EPS, VB3, and seminal fluid analysis, subjects with inflammatory CP/CPPS had more severe (P <0.02) and more frequent symptoms, in particular, difficulty reaching erection (P <0.01), weak urinary stream (P <0.01), urinary frequency (P = 0.03), and penile pain (P = 0.04).

The increased severity and frequency of symptoms among patients with inflammatory CP/CPPS provide empirical support for the new consensus classification on the basis of the combination of EPS, VB3, and seminal fluid analysis findings.