Uk Guidelines For Keyhole Surgery
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has guidelines for keyhole surgery. These state that surgeons can use it to remove cancer of the prostate but they must:
- tell people having the surgery about the risks and benefits
- monitor people closely
- collect information about any problems people have and report on them
Researchers are looking into whether keyhole surgery is as good as open surgery.
Is It Advisable To Take Viagra After The Procedure
Since erectile dysfunction is one of the major side effects of the operation, patients are wondering whether or not they can take Viagra after prostatectomy. In fact, many of them are even asking, can I use the blue pill right after the surgery? Or is there a waiting period?
What is Viagra in the first place? Simply put, it is another medication for erectile dysfunction. You can find it under the generic name Sildenafil.
If you have been taking Viagra before the surgery, you must inform your surgeon as some of its ingredients may affect the anesthesia.
So can a male undergoing prostatectomy use Viagra after the medical procedure? Yes, the blue pill can help restore erection . However, using it right after the surgery is not advisable since the body also needs some time to recuperate.
Are There Differences Between Orp Lrp And Ralrp
According to a 2010 of different surgery types for prostate cancer, the outcomes for open radical prostatectomy , laparoscopic , and robotic-assisted prostatectomy are not significantly different.
But people who choose LRP and RALRP may experience:
- less blood loss
- shorter hospital stay
- faster recovery time
Also, people who choose RALRP report faster recovery in continence and decreased hospital stay, in comparison to LRP. But the overall outcomes still depend on the surgeons experience and skill.
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Going Home With A Catheter
You will be discharged from the hospital with a catheter in place to drain urine from your bladder into a bag. The doctor will remove this in the office in five to 14 days. Be sure to clean the catheter where it exits your penis twice a day with soap and water and to empty the bag frequently. The bag should always be positioned lower than your bladder.
On occasion, the catheter may irritate the bladder, causing bladder spasms that can be quite uncomfortable. If these occur, your doctor can prescribe medication that can help. Leakage of urine around where the catheter exits the penis also may occur and can be managed by wearing incontinence pads as described in the next section.
It is normal for your urine to look cloudy for a few weeks after surgery. Occasionally, bleeding may occur around the catheter or be noticed within the urine. This also is common. If you see large clots â more than an inch in length â or if the catheter becomes plugged, contact your doctor. No anesthesia is required for catheter removal, and most patients experience only a little discomfort.
How Long Has Cleveland Clinic Been Performing Laparoscopic Prostatectomies
Cleveland Clinic was the first in the United States to establish laparoscopic prostatectomy program in 1997 and routinely offer this procedure to patients. Our specialists have been performing robotic prostate surgery for the past 5-6 years.
Robotic and Laparoscopic Surgery Offer Advantages in Treatment of Prostate Cancer
Cleveland Clinic was the nation’s first medical center to routinely perform laparoscopic prostate surgery and amongst the first to perform robotic radical prostatectomy. Now laparoscopic and robotic surgery is enabling surgeons to perform this complex minimally invasive surgery with more precision, offering patients improved outcomes. Cleveland Clinic uses the state-of-the-art robotic surgical system that has been approved by the FDA for use in performing many surgical procedures, including radical prostatectomies, general laparoscopic surgery, thoracoscopic surgery, and thoracoscopically-assisted heart procedures.
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What To Expect After Prostate Is Removed
Following prostate removal , you can expect to be in the hospital, usually for one night for monitoring.
When patients are first sent home, activities are restricted and patients are usually advised not to drive. Over-the-counter pain medicines such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen may be used. If OTC pain relievers are inadequate, a doctor may prescribe pain medications.
About seven to 10 days after surgery, the catheter is removed, usually at the doctors office. The doctor will usually have pathology results around this time and can discuss if further treatment is needed.
Patients are advised to avoid strenuous activity or heavy lifting for at least one month after surgery, and most patients take off work for three to four weeks.
Some men experience may side effects during recovery, such as:
Sex After Prostatectomy: How To Have A Healthy Sex Life After Surgery
Medically reviewed by Kristin Hall, FNP
Prostate health issues such as benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer affect hundreds of thousands of men in the United States every year.
If youve been diagnosed with a serious prostate issue, your healthcare provider may suggest a prostatectomy a surgical procedure in which your part or all of your prostate gland is surgically removed from your body.
Prostate removal surgery is usually highly effective at treating cancer and prostate enlargement , but it can potentially lead to complications.
These include some sexual performance issues, such as erectile dysfunction and difficulty ejaculating normally.
Although these effects can change your sexual experience, many men are still able to enjoy a fulfilling, satisfying sex life after prostate surgery by making certain lifestyle changes and using medication.
Below, weve talked about what to expect if youre scheduled to undergo a prostatectomy and want to maintain an active sex life after surgery.
Weve also explained how you can have a healthy sex life after a partial or complete prostate removal, whether through exercises to improve sexual functioning, medications, devices or a combination of different approaches.
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What Should People Know About The Potential Complications Or Side Effects From A Radical Prostatectomy
A radical prostatectomy is very complex and requires a high level of technical precision. The prostate is surrounded by nerves and structures that are important to normal urinary and sexual function. Men who have this procedure are understandably concerned about the possibility of complications that affect longer-term quality-of-life issues. These can include urinary control, also called urinary continence, and changes in sexual function.
Over the past few decades, technical refinements have dramatically reduced the number of complications with this surgery. At MSK, weve found ways to use the results of imaging tests when planning a surgery. Then we can avoid injuring important structures, which minimizes the risk of incontinence and maximizes the chance of maintaining sexual function. We continue to look for ways to further minimize the risk of side effects.
Studies have shown that patients of surgeons who regularly perform radical prostatectomies have fewer complications on average than those who do these surgeries less often. I myself have performed more than 3,000 radical prostatectomies. The other MSK surgeons also have vast experience in this procedure.
Its always a balance between removing the cancer and trying to preserve function. The balance is different for each person because each cancer is different. People need to ask questions and be clear about their expectations.
Surgery To Remove Your Prostate Gland
You might have surgery to remove your prostate gland if:
- your cancer hasn’t spread outside the prostate gland
- you are younger and have a fast growing tumour
- as part of treatment for locally advanced or high risk localised prostate cancer
The aim of a radical prostatectomy operation is to cure prostate cancer. It is major surgery with some possible side effects. If you’re an older man with a slow growing prostate cancer, this type of surgery may not be necessary for you. This is because your cancer might grow so slowly that you’re more likely to die of old age or other causes than from prostate cancer.
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Table 2 What Guides Treatment Recommendations
Both of the situations below involve men diagnosed with a tumor that is small in size , yet who may require quite different treatments, based on their PSA level and Gleason score. Of course, many men have clinical profiles that vary from these two extremes.
Clinical profile Low PSA
Low Gleason score
80% of men with this profile probably have locally confined disease.
It is likely that fewer than 3% will have evidence of cancer in lymph nodes.
Surgery, radiation, or active surveillance . High PSA
High Gleason score
5% of men with this profile probably have locally confined disease.
More than 20% probably have evidence of cancer in the lymph nodes.
Systemic therapy rather than surgery .
Radical prostatectomy . The surgeon removes the prostate and seminal vesicles . In some cases, pelvic lymph nodes are also sampled. This is most often performed through an abdominal incision abdominal surgery may also be done with a laparoscope. A third option is the perineal technique, involving an incision in the area between the scrotum and the anus . The most common side effects are
- impotence
- mild to severe incontinence .
External beam radiation therapy. After a CT scan constructs a three-dimensional picture of the prostate and seminal vesicles, the radiation oncologist directs rays of high-energy radiation at the prostate tumor and sometimes at nearby lymph nodes. The most common side effects are
- impotence
- mild to severe incontinence .
- impotence
- mild to severe incontinence .
Why The Procedure Is Performed
An enlarged prostate can make it hard for you to urinate. You may also get urinary tract infections. Removing all, or part, of the prostate gland can make these symptoms better. Before you have surgery, your doctor may tell you changes you can make in how you eat or drink. You may also try some medicines.
Prostate removal may be recommended if you:
- Cannot completely empty your bladder
- Have repeat urinary tract infections
- Have bleeding from your prostate
- Have bladder stones with your enlarged prostate
- Urinate very slowly
- Took medicines, and they did not help your symptoms or you no longer want to take them
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Things That Can Happen When You Live Without A Prostate
Beyond the oft-reported effects of urinary incontinence and impotence following surgery, there are a number of less widely known possible side effects of prostate removal.
Fun fact number one: Half of all men who die in this country this year will be killed by heart disease, stroke, or cancer. Fun fact number two: Half of all doctors seem to have different ideas about how to prevent the biggest killers of men. We spoke to the best of them, and we’ve simplified, clarified, and prioritized their advice on minimizing the risks of dying before your time. For more tips, . Reporting by Sarah Z. Wexler.
As more men deemed to be at genetic risk of prostate cancer opt to have the organ removed preemptively, lesser-known side-effects of the procedure are coming to the fore. In addition to the oft-reported effects of urinary incontinence and impotence following surgery, here are some symptoms more rarely accounted for:
Shrunken penises. As many men are prescribed antiandrogen treatments to block testosterone effects on advanced prostate-cancer tissue, Dr. Celestia Higano of the University of Washington reports that up to 68 percent of men experience penile shortening after radical prostatectomy surgery.
“Dry orgasm”or, rather, orgasm without ejaculation, which occurs after surgery when retrograde ejaculation sends semen back into the bladder instead of out the penis.
This article originally appeared in Esquire‘s November issue.
Sex After Prostate Surgery
Youll often hear people say that men think about sex every 12 seconds, or some other ridiculous number.
While we may know that isnt exactly the case, theres no denying that for most men its at the forefront of their mind.
So when undergoing treatment for an enlarged prostate or even prostate cancer, its inevitable that questions about your sex life will arise.
This article will look at the most common concerns for men who have undergone, are in the middle of, or are thinking about undergoing treatment.
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Immediately After A Prostatectomy
- You will stay in hospital for two to five days.
- Nurses will monitor your vital signs.
- Your pain will be managed with medication.
- You may be given antibiotics to reduce the risk of infection.
- You may have a drip inserted into your arm or hand for a few days.
- You will most likely have a drain tube out of your abdomen that will be removed in the first day or two after the surgery.
- You will be fitted with a small tube in your penis. The catheter drains urine into an attached bottle or bag. This catheter will be removed about one to three weeks after the operation. Your surgeon will tell you when it can be removed.
- In most cases, you will have to go home still wearing the catheter. You will be taught how to care for it.
Transurethral Resection Of The Prostate
This operation is more often used to treat men with non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate called benign prostatic hyperplasia . But it is also sometimes used in men with advanced prostate cancer to help relieve symptoms, such as trouble urinating.
During this operation, the surgeon removes the inner part of the prostate gland that surrounds the urethra . The skin is not cut with this surgery. An instrument called a resectoscope is passed through the tip of the penis into the urethra to the level of the prostate. Once it is in place, either electricity is passed through a wire to heat it or a laser is used to cut or vaporize the tissue. Spinal anesthesia or general anesthesia is used.
The operation usually takes about an hour. After surgery, a catheter is inserted through the penis and into the bladder. It remains in place for about a day to help urine drain while the prostate heals. You can usually leave the hospital after 1 to 2 days and return to normal activities in 1 to 2 weeks.
You will probably have some blood in your urine after surgery.
Other possible side effects from TURP include infection and any risks that come with the type of anesthesia used.
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What Are Pelvic Floor Exercises And Can Improve Erection Quality
As we age, we lose muscle tone throughout your body. That includes the muscles that men need to maintain erections. However, there are physical exercises men can do to reduce erectile dysfunction. The best ones are known as pelvic floor exercises or kegels.
Those muscles are the core of how your body maintains blood flow to the penis and therefore keeps erections strong.
They put pressure on the veins in your penis, preventing blood from flowing back into the rest of your body. If they arent strong enough then even if you can get an erection, you wont be able to keep it.
The process starts with identifying the muscles you need to activate. Thats best achieved by lying down with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Thats when you breathe out and squeeze your pelvic floor muscles for 3 seconds.
Its important that you identify the right group, at the base of your buttocks, on either side of your perineum. It can be easy to mistake other muscles, such as the legs or stomach for the pelvic floor.
Once you are confident you have the right muscle group, then doing the exercises in a seated or standing position three times a day can firm and strengthen the muscles, with a likely improvement within four to six weeks.
Some men find that after the initial strengthening that options like Pilates become appealing as not only are there many exercises which improve the pelvic floor, but they can improve overall posture and strength.
What Is Robotic Prostate Surgery
A surgical treatment for prostate cancer, the radical prostatectomy procedure removes the entire prostate gland. Radical prostatectomy can now be done by laparoscopic or robotic techniques.In open prostate surgery, the prostate gland is removed through a larger incision in the lower abdomen. Laparoscopic prostate surgery involves key-hole incisions which used for inserting a lighted viewing instrument into the pelvic region and allows examination and removal of the prostate without a large abdominal incision.
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Open Radical Prostatectomy Vs Minimally Invasive Radical Prostatectomy
In 2003, only 9.2% of radical prostatectomies were done using a minimally invasive procedure. By 2007, that number had jumped to 43.2%. In 2009, researchers in Boston reported on a study that compared outcomes, benefits, and complications of open surgery vs. minimally invasive surgery:
- No difference was found in deaths or in the need for additional cancer therapy between the two approaches.
- The median hospital stay was two days for minimally invasive surgery and three days for open surgery.
- 2.7% of men having laparoscopic surgery required a blood transfusion compared with 20.8% of men having open surgery.
- There was more anastomotic stricture — narrowing of the suture where internal body parts are rejoined — for open surgery than for minimally invasive surgery .
- There were fewer respiratory complications with minimally invasive surgery than with open surgery .
- There were lower rates of incontinence and erectile dysfunction with open surgery. The overall rate was 4.7% for laparoscopic surgery and 2.1% for open surgery.
What Is The Difference Between Prostatectomy And Radical Prostatectomy
A radical prostatectomy is not the same procedure as a simple prostatectomy. A radical prostatectomy, in which the entire prostate gland is removed, is used to treat localized prostate cancer.
A simple prostatectomy is used to treat severe urinary symptoms and enlarged benign prostate glands in men, and only the obstructing part of the prostate that’s blocking the flow of urine is removed.
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