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Does Interstitial Cystitis Cause Smelly Urine & Can A Urine Test Detect IC?

Interstitial cystitis is a type of bladder pain syndrome. It is a long-lasting or chronic condition, which results in various painful urinary-related symptoms. However, symptoms may vary among individuals.⁽¹⁾

The problem of IC affects approximately 4million to 12million of people only. Moreover, the condition is common among women. However, interstitial cystitis may affect almost every individual irrespective of his or her race, age, ethnicity, and gender.⁽²⁾

The underlying cause of interstitial cystitis is urinary tract infection in many cases. The infection takes place whenever bacteria enter the urethra or bladder and starts to multiply. This also takes place with naturally causing bacteria in the body, which becomes imbalanced. These bacteria cause inflammation and infection both.⁽³⁾

Does Interstitial Cystitis Cause Smelly Urine?

Interstitial cystitis is a type of bladder inflammation and it takes place because of bacterial infection, like urinary tract infection. IC is a type of bacterial infection and hence, it leads to strong smelly urine and even it sometimes smells like a fish.⁽⁴⁾

Can A Urine Test Detect Interstitial Cystitis?

Until now, pathologists and doctors do not have any specific test for the diagnosis of interstitial cystitis. However, if you schedule your appointment with a doctor because of the urgent need to urinate and mild to severe bladder pain, your doctor will recommend for a urine test to rule out your condition. Doctors mainly rule out a few of the major conditions in both women and men. These are bladder cancer, urinary tract infection, kidney stones, sexually transmitted diseases, and others.⁽⁵⁾

Types Of Urine Tests Recommend By Your Doctor

As mentioned before, IC is a type of bacterial infection or urinary tract infection, doctors mainly recommend urine culture and urinalysis tests. For this, patients get a cup for urinating in it in the clinic’s bathroom. However, before this, a health expert will give instructions related to collecting urine in the given cup. On diagnosis, if experts found red and white blood cells with bacteria in your urine sample, it indicates the problem of urinary tract infection.⁽⁶⁾

Additional Urine/Urinary Bladder Tests To Diagnose Interstitial Cystitis Accurately

To determine the presence of interstitial cystitis accurately, doctors recommend a few of the additional types of urinary bladder or urine tests. These are as follows-

Cystoscopy: In cystoscopy, doctors use a thin tube equipped with a camera device to view the inner contents of your urethra and urinary bladder. This test is recommendable if blood is also present in the urine along with a foul smell. In some cases, doctors also conduct the biopsy of the urethra and urinary bladder i.e. collect a small piece of tissue from the urinary bladder and test it.

Post-Void Volume Of Residual Urine: Doctors use ultrasound tests to measure the exact amount of urine/pee, which remains in the urinary bladder right after you visit the clinic’s bathroom.

Stretching Of Urinary Bladder: Doctors give you anesthesia and fill your urinary bladder with gas or liquid for stretching it out.

Prostate Fluid Culture: This type of test is recommendable only in men if the doctor suspects that a person has interstitial cystitis. The doctor will thus press on the prostate and take a milk type of sample to conduct the test.⁽⁷⁾

Conclusion

To conclude, we should say that interstitial cystitis is a type of urinary tract infection or bacterial infection it leads to smelly urine. Furthermore, doctors recommend for urine culture and urinalysis types of urine tests to detect the urinary tract infection. However, to diagnose interstitial cystitis accurately, a patient has to undergo a few of the additional tests, including cystoscopy.

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Does Interstitial Cystitis Cause Smelly Urine & Can A Urine Test Detect IC?