Is sexual intercourse a significant cause of haematuria?

Abstract

Objectives To determine whether recent sexual intercourse might be a cause of microscopic haematuria in patients referred to a urological unit following dipstick detection of urinary haemoglobin. Subjects and methods Forty-eight volunteers (24 men and 24 women) consented to have heterosexual intercourse with their regular partner, and to provide samples of urine for testing before and from the ®rst void on the morning after intercourse. After appropriate instruction, volunteers tested their own urine for the presence of blood using standard dipsticks. Any volunteer with haematuria either before or after intercourse was offered a standard haematuria assessment. The results were analysed using the chi-squared test.Results None of the volunteers tested positively for haematuria immediately before sexual intercourse; six of the 24 women (25%), but no men, became positive after intercourse (P<0.01). Only one of the six women accepted the offer of a haematuria evaluation and no pathology was identi®ed. Conclusion These results suggest that up to a quarter of women develop microscopic haematuria as a direct result of sexual intercourse. A history of recent sexual intercourse should therefore be considered when assessing the clinical signi®cance of microscopic haematuria in women.

Role of Sexual Intercourse in Hematuria and Proteinuria in Males and Females

“…Sexual intercourse has been associated with hematuria in either sex. Harris et al [2] also noted that up to a quarter of women develop microscopic hematuria as a direct result of sexual intercourse. The present study showed that sexual intercourse could cause microscopic hematuria that is more frequent in women and restricted to immediately after intercourse.…”

“…Most clinicians would agree that further investigation is still generally recommended in the case of a positive urine test for protein, to exclude significant and treatable disease [3] , but there is controversy about the optimum extent of investigation, the most cost-effective method and whether there is a need for further investigation after only one episode of microscopic hematuria in asymptomatic individuals [2] .…”

“…Sexual intercourse has been associated with hematuria in men [1] and up to a quarter of women [2] . Also, it has been shown that sexual intercourse was a cause of proteinuria immediately after sexual intercourse in the urine samples of 4 healthy men [1] which can last up to 12 h in men, according to a small prospective study at the Israel Naval Medical Institute [3] .…”

The Investigation and Management of Haematuria—A Continuing Dilemma

“…Transient AMH has also been reported to occur in up to 25% of women after sexual intercourse [17] and in 13% of post-menopausal women [18]. Another study conducted in Northern England reported the incidence of AMH on initial dipstick testing at 13 and 9% on additional testing [19].…”

Usefulness of urine dipstick in an urogynecologic population

“…Hematuria maybe due to acute infection but can also be due to hypercalciuria, hyperoxaluria, and hyperuricosuria [6]. One study found sexual intercourse to be a causative factor for hematuria [7].…”