Pollakiuria R35

word origin: ancient greek πολλάκις (pollakis) = often

Pollakiuria belongs to the group of micturition disorders and describes frequent urination, mainly smaller amounts of urine, whereas the total amount of urine excreted during the day is in the physiological range. It can be a symptom of various diseases, the most common cause being diseases of the urinary tract. The best known cause is certainly cystitis (inflammation of the bladder).

Possible diseases as a cause of pollakiuria are:

• cystitis (inflammation of the bladder)
• Pyelonephritis (inflammation of the renal pelvis)
• Prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate)
• Chronic cystitis/ pyelonephritis
• Irritable bladder
• Benign prostatic hyperplasia (benign enlargement of the prostate, men especially >60 years)
• Permanent catheterization
• Malignant diseases (cancers) of the prostate or bladder
• Stress-related, psychogenic
• Pregnancy

Pollakiuria is characterized by frequent urination of small amounts of urine. The urinary stream is often weakened as a result.

If the symptoms also occur at night, nocturia (nocturnal urination) is considered a form variant of pollakiuria.

As a rule, the symptom of pollakiuria is collected anamnestically.

In order to exclude inflammation, a urine sample is usually taken, which provides the first indication of the cause of the symptoms. Further diagnostics depend on this.

The treatment depends on the underlying disease. In principle, however, it is advisable to have the symptoms clarified, especially if other symptoms are also present, such as alguria (pain when urinating), fever, abdominal or flank pain, so that any underlying diseases can be treated early and germs are not spread.

If an inflammation is the cause of the disease, antibiotic treatment is usually used. In this case, sufficiently large quantities of drinking water, warmth and phytotherapeutic agents are used supportively.

1. Herold G et al (2018) Internal Medicine, Herold Verlag pp. 600, 617, 619, 620, 915