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BPH and Transurethral resection of the prostate - what to expect?

My Dr. wants to do transurethral resection of my prostate because of advanced BPH - I can hardly pee at all. I'm not at all opposed to this, and am eager to get it over with.

Question - who has had this done, and how did it work for you? Pain? Complications? How quickly did you get relief? Any advice or suggestions for me?
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Avatar universal
How much urine were you retaining before you had TURP done? Did you get immediate relief as far as urine flow?

I gave up caffeine 5 weeks ago. What does spicy food do to you?

Oh, did you have general or local anesthesia? I'm wondering which would be safer.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thanks for comments! I'm actually in fairly good shape all in all, but I still retain urine and have a slow stream. I'm only 50, so I'm optimistic that TURP will work very well for me. We caught it before it got too bad, and I understand having it done this soon make it less risky and shortens the recovery period.
Helpful - 0
647273 tn?1292091141
Hi, I was in the hospital for 4 days. There was not a whole lot of urine leaking and things got under control in about 2 weeks. For the first 2 weeks I used pads to control the urine leakage. After that I had my follow up appointment after a month. The urologist pushed on the bladder area which caused a small amount of urine to leak. About a year later after a urodynamics test it was determined that I have a neurogenic bladder.

I currently have an indwelling Foley catheter for other urological problems. A fistula between my prostate and rectum. You will definitely be aware that you have a catheter as it may cause some discomfort. There are a few things to deal with this. Most people are scared that they are going to leak urine. The catheter sometimes will give the sensation of needing to urinate. The more you try and control this by bearing down the worse things will feel. Try to relax as much as possible. Ensure that the outward end of the catheter is either sucured to your leg or abdomen. Ecessive movement of the catheter causes pain. Wear tighter fitting underwear to support the catheter and penis. Make sure that you have padding when sitting down for an extended period of time. I was in a seminar 2 months ago and they had hard chairs that gave me discomfort.
Most of the time you should feel OK, but having discomfort at times cannot be avoided. Having the catheter in is better than not being able to urninate.

Things to wath for: clody urine in the urine bags, foul smelling urine, burning sensations, feeling a very strong urge to urninate and fever. All of these can be the signs of a urinary tract infection. Keep the catheter clean when switching from night bags to leg bags. Keep the night bag below the bladder area. Have the catheter and bags changed frequently. The catheter should be changed every 6 to 8 weeks. If the catheter gets plugged for some reason, irrigate it or get this done. To irrigate use a seringe with a cone and use saline solution to force the blockage loose. If you can't accomplish a free flow of urine, go to emergency to get it irrigated or changed. You don't want urine to cause back pressure in the bladder. Drinking cranberry juice will help to keep the urine slightly accidic.

Most times you will be fitted with an 18 Fr. catheter. Ask them to put minimal amounts of fluid in the balloon of the catheter to hold it in place. The larger the balloon the more you have the chances of bladder spasms. Ask the doctor about Buscopan or something else to control the bladder spasms. They also have suposetories to control spasms.
Drink lots of water and stay away from spicy foods and cafeine. I have a difficult time with this since I like my coffee and hot sauce. If I over do it, I will pay for it later. Ensure that you have regular bowel movements as consipation causes strain on the prostate.

I hope that things will work out for you.

All the best.

Ron

Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thank you for your advice, I appreciate it. I had a ct urogram done today, and I'll be seeing my Urologist next week for results and recommendation. I was told I'm only retaining about 50cc of urine, which is not as much as it feels like. Still, I'm eager to get it treated now instead of letting it get worse. I'll have more information next week.
Helpful - 0
563773 tn?1374246539
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hello,
Transurethral resection of the prostate( TURP) is performed by visualising the prostate through the urethra and removing tissue by electrocautery or sharp dissection. It is performed under general or local anesthesia. The initial recovery period lasts approximately one week, and includes some pain and discomfort from the urinary catheter.

Side effects involved include, bleeding, retrograde ejaculation, some amount of erectile dysfunction, bladder wall injury and incontinence. You should discuss all this in detail with your surgeon. You can also refer surgery encyclopedia and read more about this.
It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.



Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thanks for the encouraging words. How long were you in the hospital? How bad was the bladder control - did you leak, or did you just have to urinate a lot?

How uncomfortable was the catheter? I'm thinking of having one installed so I can make it to surgery - we haven't set the date yet, and I don't know of my Dr. is going to put one in or not.
Helpful - 0
647273 tn?1292091141
Hi, I had this done at the age of 30 due to a bladderneck obstruction. For the first few days after the surgery I had an indwelling catheter and there was a consideral amount of bleeding. After the third day the catheter was taken out. Right away I found that the urnine flow was no longer obstructed. A day after I got home I had some more bleeding and the local doctor placed another indwelling catheter for 3 days.
There was some burning during urination, but nothing severe. Getting good control over my bladder took about 6 weeks.
One result of the TURP is retrograde ejeculation. The semen goes into the bladder instead of out of the penis.
From all the surgeries that I have had, I found it to be one of the easiest.

All the best,

Ron
Helpful - 0
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