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Purpose: Chronic Prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome (CP/CPPS) is a chronic pain condition and a common problem in urology clinics. Although many different etiologies and mechanisms exist, the exact cause of the disease has been unknown. Central sensitization (CS) is defined as an augmentation of responsiveness of central cortical neurons to input from peripheral nociceptive structures. Somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) is an electroneurophysiological method to assess cortical activity in somatosensory area of brain related to sensorial stimuli. We aimed to determine the presence of CS using the SEPs of dorsal penile nerve stimulation in patients with CP/CPPS. Materials and Methods: Seventeen male patients diagnosed CP/CPPS and 17 male healthy controls were prospectively included in the study. For SEP study, electrical stimulus was applied with penile ring electrodes. Recording electrodes were placed as active to Cz' and reference electrode on Fz' according to the 10-20 International System. Latency of N50 was defined as the second negative (upward) deflection of the W-shaped averaged cortical waveform. Results: N50 latencies were significantly shortened in the patient group compared to the healthy controls (P < .001). Conclusion: These results support the presence of central sensitization because of exaggerated transmission of pain sensation to the somatosensory cortex. Therefore, normalization of transmission might be an important step in treatment of pain in patients with CP/CPPS. This study can be counted as an important guiding on pathogenesis and treatment of disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate and compare the stone clearence and complication rates of flexible ureteroscopy (URS) with semirigid URS in patients having proximal ureteral stones.Materials and Methods: The data of 124 patients with proximal ureteral stones who underwent semirigid or flexible ureterorenoscopic lithotripsy between March 2008 and December 2012 were retrospectively investigated. The patients were divided into 2 groups according to the operation types. Group 1 included 63 patients who were treated with semirigid URS and group 2 was consisted from 61 patients who underwent flexible URS. Each group was compared in terms of stone diameter, successful access to the stone, operation time, reoperation rates, stone free status at postoperative 1st and 3rd month and complications.Results: Successful access was achieved in 48/63 (76%) of the cases in group 1 and 57/61 (93%) of the patients in group 2 (P < .05). Initial stone free status was 63.4% (40/63) and 86.8% (53/61) in groups 1 and 2, respectively (P < .05). Third month radiologic investigations revelaed a stone free rate of 77.7% (49/57) in group 1 and 93.4% (57/61) in group 2 (P < .05). Reoperation was required in 20.6% (13/63) of cases in group 1 and this value was only 6% (4/61) in group 2 (P < .05). There was not any statistically significant difference between 2 groups in terms of complication rates (P > .05).Conclusion: Flexible URS is a favorable option for patients having proximal ureteral stones with higher stone free rate; on the other hand semirigid URS seems a less successful alternative for treatment of proximal ureteral stones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]