The Cowper's gland are pea sized glands that are present inferior to the prostate gland in the male reproductive system.
The Cowper's glands produce thick clear mucus prior to ejaculation that drains into the spongy urethra.
The Cowper's glands are responsible for producing a precum fluid called Cowper's fluid that helps to neutralize the acidic urine and lubrication the distal urethra.
Cowper's fluid is also secreted during sexual arousal which helps in the preparation for the passage of sperm cells.
Symptoms of Cowper's gland problems or cowperitis include perineal swelling and pain, fever, and dysuria.
Cowperitis often simulates prostatitis but the rectal symptoms are absent, and rectal digital examination shows the prostate to be of normal size and not painful in people with cowperitis.
The Cowper's gland is the main source of the pre-ejaculate fluid.
Cowper's glands are situated below the prostate and is also called the bulbourethral gland and it produces an alkaline, mucus-like fluid during sexual stimulation.
The bulbourethral or Cowper's glands originate as evaginations of the epithelium that cover the urogenital sinus and contribute about 0.1–0.2 ml of the ejaculate; their secretion neutralizes urine in addition to lubricating the urethra prior to ejaculation.
Cowper's syringocele may be suspected in young male patients with persistent post-void dribbling but normal uroflowmetry, excluding urethral strictures.
Diagnosis can be confirmed with urethrocystoscopy or retrograde urethrogram.
Treatment consists of a short outpatient procedure.
On occasion, syringoceles (cystic dilatations) of the Cowper's gland duct occur in young boys to adult men.
Lower urinary tract symptoms (eg, urinary obstruction, urinary tract infection) may ensure or there may be associated complications requiring surgical intervention.
Bulbourethral glands are also called Cowper's glands after the English anatomist William Cowper.
Cowper's glands secrete glycoproteins during sexual stimulation, which functions as a lubricant for the semen.
In response to sexual stimulation, the bulbourethral glands secrete an alkaline mucus-like fluid.