Trigonitis refers to an appearance of the trigone part of the bladder seen on cystoscopy.
The name ‘trigonitis’ is misleading as it is not due to inflammation. The appearances are usually due to a change in the lining of the bladder in this region called ‘squamous metaplasia’.
This change generally does not cause any symptoms.
It can be found in up to 40% of normal adult women and therefore is considered a normal variant.
Historically these appearances were often blamed as the cause of many symptoms in women including recurrent urine infections, bladder and urethral pain and pain with voiding. There is no evidence to support this.
Treatment including diathermy of the trigone is generally no longer supported.
Biopsy may be required to exclude cancer and other conditions.
