Prostatitis occurs due to inflammation of the prostate gland. Bacterial prostatitis mainly occurs with urethritis or a lower urinary tract infection (UTI). It is commonly caused by Enterobacter, Escherichia coli, Group D streptococci, and Proteus (Pirola et al., 2019). The microbes reach the prostate through the urethra or bloodstream. The patient presents with symptoms of chronic bacterial prostatitis like urinary frequency and incontinence. This could have been caused by the inoculation of bacteria during therapy or microorganisms from a lower UTI spreading to the prostate (Pirola et al., 2019).
Furthermore, chronic prostatitis manifests with pain in and around the penis, testicles, anal area, lower abdomen, and lower back. It also presents with an enlarged or tender prostate on digital rectal examination (DRE). Therefore, the patient’s low back and hip pain, as well as findings of an enlarged, nodular prostate, can be pointed to chronic prostatitis.
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a risk factor for prostatitis. The patient’s history of prostate cancer can be attributed to chronic bacterial prostatitis. The bacteria may have been inoculated to the prostate during the chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The patient has an elevated PSA level of 7.2 and an enlarged nodular prostate, which can be attributed to prostate cancer (McCance & Huether, 2019). Local clinical manifestations of prostate cancer include lower urinary tract symptoms, hematuria, hematospermia, erectile dysfunction, and urinary retention. The patient’s urinary frequency and incontinence can further be attributed to the current prostate cancer.
The patient’s mild degenerative changes in the spine and cystic mass near the spine can be due to metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC). MSCC occurs when cancer cells spread from the prostate and grow in or near the spine, pressing on the spinal cord (Patnaik et al., 2020). A systemic reaction occurs in a patient with prostatitis when the causative organisms enter the circulation through the lymphatic or blood system and cause infection to other body organs. This results in systemic symptoms like fever, chills, malaise, tachycardia, tachypnea, and myalgia.
The patient has symptoms consistent with chronic bacterial prostatitis, like urinary frequency and incontinence. Chemotherapy may have caused prostatitis when pathogens are inoculated into the bladder. Besides, the patient has symptoms consistent with prostate cancer, like an enlarged, nodular prostate and elevated PSA levels. The degenerative changes and cystic mass near the spine are likely due to the spread of cancer cells from the prostate. A systemic reaction can occur when causative organisms migrate from the prostate to the circulation.
McCance, K. L. & Huether, S. E. (2019). Pathophysiology: The biologic basis for disease in adults and children (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby/Elsevier
Patnaik, S., Turner, J., Inaparthy, P., & Kieffer, W. K. (2020). Metastatic spinal cord compression. British journal of hospital medicine (London, England : 2005), 81(4), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.12968/hmed.2019.0399
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