OBJECTIVETo investigate the characteristic changes in the infrared thermogram of chronic prostatitis (CP) patients and find some evidence for the auxiliary diagnosis and therapeutic evaluation of the disease.

METHODSFifty CP patients and 20 healthy male volunteers were included in this clinical trial. The infrared thermograms of the subjects were compared between the two groups for characteristic changes. The values obtained were used for the auxiliary diagnosis and therapeutic evaluation of the disease.

RESULTSCompared with the healthy males in the same age group, the CP patients showed extremely significant abnormal changes in the average temperature value in the hypogastrium (H), pubis (P), scrotum (S), and groin (G) (P < 0.01). The average H temperature value of the CP patients was correlated negatively with the CP symptom index (CPSI) (P < 0.01, Pearsons correlation coefficient = -0.519), while the S temperature positively with CPSI (P < 0.01, Pearsons correlation coefficient = 0.446). In addition to the H value, the P, S, and G values were all correlated in different degrees with CPSI (P < 0.01), which the S value exhibited the most significantly negative correlation (Pearson's correlation coefficient = -0.898).

CONCLUSIONThere are some characteristic changes in the hypogastrium temperature of CP patients in the infrared thermogram, which has a potential application value for the auxiliary diagnosis, symptom assessment, and therapeutic evaluation of CP.