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Cystitis
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Acute cystitis is an infection of the urinary bladder, the pouch where urine is stored. It is the most common urinary tract infection in women.
It is usually an ascending infection: bacteria travel up the short tube that carries urine out. Those bacteria are called uropathogens because they are adapted to the urinary tract, and the most common one is Escherichia coli. As they travel up they damage the urothelium, the inner lining of the urinary tract, and by sticking to it they set off inflammation.
That is where the symptoms come from: burning with urination, which is called dysuria, needing to urinate frequently, urgency, and discomfort above the pubic bone, which is what suprapubic means. It is more common in women for two anatomical reasons: the urethral meatus, the opening of the urethra, sits close to the rectum, and the urethra is shorter.
In brief
Acute cystitis is an infection of the urinary bladder and is the most common urinary tract infection in women.
It usually begins as an ascending infection by uropathogens, mainly Escherichia coli, that damage the urothelial lining; their attachment triggers inflammation.
Bacteria travel up a short tube from where the urine comes out.
It causes dysuria, frequency, urgency and suprapubic discomfort, and it is more common in women because the urethral meatus sits close to the rectum and the urethra is shorter.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingAcute Cystitis, StatPearlsPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated