How long should a physician wait before testing for prostate-specific antigen after treating acute bacterial prostatitis?

Testing for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels following treatment for acute bacterial prostatitis should generally be conducted one month after the resolution of the infection. This recommendation is based on understanding the physiological processes involved post-infection.

Acute bacterial prostatitis can cause inflammation of the prostate tissue, and this inflammation can lead to elevated PSA levels. Testing too soon after treatment, such as immediately or within a few weeks, may yield falsely elevated results due to residual inflammation rather than an actual increase in prostate pathology, such as prostate cancer.

Waiting for a full month allows sufficient time for the prostate to heal and for any inflammatory effects on PSA production to subside. This wait period helps provide a more accurate reflection of the patient's true PSA levels, aiding in appropriate clinical decision-making. In this context, conducting the test three months after resolution may also be appropriate, but the standard practice aligns more closely with the one-month timeframe to ensure that any transient elevations are no longer present.