A 62-year-old man is experiencing fever, chills, malaise, urinary frequency, and urgency. He also reports urethral discharge and a dull aching pain in the perineal and rectal area. These symptoms are most consistent with which condition?

A) BPH
B) Polyps
C) Prostatitis
D) Carcinoma of the prostate

The common presenting symptoms of prostatitis are fever, chills, malaise, and urinary frequency and urgency. The individual may also have dysuria, urethral discharge, and a dull aching pain in the perineal and rectal area. The signs and symptoms of benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) include urinary frequency, urgency, hesitancy, straining to urinate, weak stream, intermittent stream, sensation of incomplete emptying, and nocturia. The prostate surface feels smooth, rubbery, or firm (like the consistency of the nose), with the median sulcus obliterated. A rectal polyp is a protruding growth from the rectal mucous membrane and is fairly common. Rectal polyps are difficult to palpate and are found on examination with a scope. The signs and symptoms of carcinoma of the prostate include frequency, nocturia, hematuria, weak stream, hesitancy, pain or burning on urination, and continuous pain in lower back, pelvis, and thighs. It often starts as a single hard nodule on the posterior surface of the prostate and as it invades normal tissue, multiple hard nodules appear, or the entire gland feels stone-hard and fixed and the median sulcus obliterated.