Indications for Prostate Removal Surgery & its Procedure, Risks & Side Effects

While prostate removal surgery, called prostatectomy, is becoming increasingly common, much is also spoken about the side effects of it. Prostate is a gland in men, which, may require removal in certain health conditions depending on the severity. It is essential that you follow medical advice, but it is also important to know about prostate removal surgery its causes, recovery and side effects, to be able to take an appropriate decision.

Indications for Prostate Removal Surgery

Indications for Prostate Removal Surgery

Prostrate is an important gland in men, which can also cause certain illnesses. Some of the common conditions affecting the prostate include inflammation of prostate (prostatitis), benign prostatic hypertrophy and even prostate cancer. While some conditions can be managed with medical treatment, certain cases, which do not show improvement or which may increase the risk of prostate cancer may need to be treated surgically. Prostate cancer and benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), which does not improve with medical management are some of the major causes and indications of prostate removal surgery.

Reports show that thousands of people die every year due to prostate cancer. Prostate removal surgery is an effective treatment for prostate cancer. The stage of cancer and the age of the person helps to determine the treatment of prostate cancer. With newer technologies coming up, prostate removal surgery to remove the cancer cells is becoming easier and simpler. It may only involve removing the prostate gland, without the removal of nearby nerves and gland. With this modernized way of surgery, a person can easily perform urination by achieving the erection.

While other treatment options like laser or radiation therapy are useful to kill cancer cells in the prostate gland, surgical removal of the prostate offers best results. Prostate removal surgery can provide long term cure and reduce the risk of further cancer spread or other complications of prostate cancer.

Prostate Removal Surgery – Procedure and Recovery

Prostate removal surgery procedure mainly depends on the indication of the surgery or the underlying disease condition and the health of the patient. Traditional approach for treating prostate cancer involves removal of prostate gland, which can be performed as an open surgery or with laparoscopic approach.

Open prostate removal surgery for prostate cancer can be performed in two ways

  • Radical Retropubic Prostatectomy – In this, the incision is made in the lower abdomen to remove the prostate gland; lymph nodes, if affected can also be removed. The decision to remove the prostate may sometimes be taken after studying the lymph nodes during the surgery, if possible. While hospital stay of few days is required, recovery may take a few weeks and activities may be restricted till then.
  • Radical Perineal Prostatectomy – In this, the incision is made around the perineum and anus. This method takes less time and recovery may be faster, however, this type does not allow the removal of lymph nodes and the chances of erection problems are higher.
  • Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy – This is performed with tiny incisions on the abdomen and use of laparoscope. It is preferred over open surgeries as it involves lesser pain and blood loss while also reducing the recovery time.

After the prostate removal surgery, it is necessary to take proper care of the catheter, which is inserted to facilitate passage of urine. One should be highly careful about its position, so that it remains on its place. Doctors often suggest cleaning the area with the mixture of water and hydrogen peroxide to remove the chances of any infection or bacterial growth. It acts as an antibiotic or an ointment which helps in a faster recovery.

Pain management is another important factor after prostate removal surgery. With effective pain management the chances of complications are less and the recovery time can be improved to some extent.

Risks and Side Effects of Prostate Removal Surgery

Prostate removal surgery is highly complicated and requires critical attention. Some risks like excessive blood loss, damage to nearby structures, infection and pain are common in any surgery. These can be reduce by the use of effective medical management and newer technologies.

Some possible side effects of prostate removal surgery, include

  • Erection Problems – Some men may face difficulty in erection after prostate removal surgery. This is also called as erectile dysfunction, which can lead to impotence in some cases.
  • Urinary incontinence – Some men may experience incontinence or leakage of urine. This can be noticed as leakage of urine during sneezing or coughing (stress continence), dribbling of urine with a weak force (overflow continence), sudden urge to urinate (urge continence) or sometimes even continuous dribbling of urine (continuous continence).

The type and severity of side effects is mainly based on the treatment and the type of prostate removal surgery. With the use of newer technologies the common side effects of the prostate removal surgery can be minimized. Other options of radiation surgery are also available, which can be considered with medical advice. It is important to follow medical advice to decide the best surgical treatment option for a particular condition and also ways to reduce the risks and side effects of prostate surgery removal.

Which the patient has gone through. One should not ignore the side effects at all as it can cause some serious health danger. The person should be given immediate care so that, he doesn’t have to suffer from the severe consequences. The major reason behind people going for radiation surgery is that, it takes lesser time and is less painful. The person can easily recover from the surgery treatment in a short period of time. It does not cause severe bleeding which makes a person week as he loses large amount of blood. Also men, who are suffering from the disease of obesity, should for the treatment of radio prostatectomy. It can be operated in a short span of time, with in a time period of one month.

So, it is very important that a patient should consult an expert doctor, before going for a surgery as he is the one who can understand the case really well. As the technology is emerging rapid and its advancements is makes the treatments better, no prominent side effects is affecting the surgery treatments.

Team PainAssist
Team PainAssist
Written, Edited or Reviewed By: Team PainAssist, Pain Assist Inc. This article does not provide medical advice. See disclaimer
Last Modified On:June 2, 2017

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