Etiology of Clinical Proctitis among Men Who Have Sex with Men

In this retrospective review of cases of clinical proctitis, we identified the frequency of common sexually transmitted dis-eases (STDs) among men who have sex with men on the basis of reports from the municipal STD clinic in San Fran-cisco. Of note, gonorrhea and chlamydia were the most com-mon STDs, followed by herpes and syphilis. Current STD treatment guidelines recommend empiric treatment for gon-orrhea and chlamydia, but treatment for herpes should also be considered. The implications for human immunodefi-ciency virus (HIV) transmission are also discussed. Proctitis, or inflammation of the rectum, is a condition that is not uncommon among men who have sex with men (MSM), and, in HIV-negative men, greatly increases the risk of acquiring HIV infection [1, 2]. With the recent increases in bacterial sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among MSM in the Unite