All You Need To Know About Prostate Cancer Surgeon & Surgery

When prostate cancer hasn’t pervaded other areas, prostate cancer surgery is the ready and preferable option. Primarily used surgery for prostate cancer is radical prostatectomy, where a Prostate Cancer Surgeon eliminates the prostate gland, seminal vesicles, and surrounding tissue. Apart from surgery, there are several other options to treat prostate cancer. The treatment a person receives rests on the tumor’s location, spread, and size. On top of this, the doctor also considers a person’s life expectancy and overall health.

What are the types of prostate cancer surgery?

Radical prostatectomy, pelvic lymphadenectomy, and transurethral resection of the prostate, aka TURP, are three types of prostate surgeries. Let’s know each in detail. Read on!

Radical Prostatectomy

The surgery is recommended for men whose general health is good. Nonetheless, it is avoided in case cancer pervades areas outside the prostate. During a radical prostatectomy, the surgeon removes the entire prostate and the tumor cells, including seminal vesicles. This prostate surgery is further divided into four types: laparoscopic prostatectomy, robotic prostatectomy, perineal prostatectomy, and retropubic prostatectomy. The type of treatment is determined by the surgeon’s expertise and the resources of the hospital.

Risks & side effects of radical prostatectomy

A person who undergoes radical prostatectomy may sustain risks like blood clots, infections, injury to nerves, bowel, and other nearby organs, and bleeding. The typical side effect of the treatment one may experience erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence. Although nerves responsible for erections are saved by the surgeons, still a person may struggle to have and maintain erections.

Transurethral resection of the prostate

 Due to enlargement of the prostate, the urethra experiences pressure, and this, a person finds difficulty urinating. TURP procedure is not meant to cure cancer but rather alleviate urination problems in the patients. The physician inserts a thin metal tube that has a camera attached to it via the penis to the urethra to perform the surgery. All the actions during the treatment happen under the effect of general anesthesia. Then, a small wire loop is implanted through the metal tube, which applies heat for the removal of certain parts of the prostate.

Risks and side effects of Transurethral Resection of the Prostate

A person who undergoes TURP treatment may experience side effects such as erectile dysfunction, which afflicts about 10% of the patients, and retrograde ejaculation, where the flow of semen gets directed towards the bladder instead of the penis. Furthermore, urinary incontinence also troubles the patient when they lose bladder control along with urethral stricture, which typically occurs in the case of scarring or damage during the procedure.

Pelvic lymphadenectomy

Pelvic lymphadenectomy is typically carried out before a radical prostatectomy to check if vigorous surgical treatment is required. During the procedure, the Prostate Cancer Surgeon of Boston eradicates the pelvis lymph nodes and performs a biopsy of those nodes to detect cancerous cells. In case the cancer is found in the lymph nodes, radical prostatectomy ends up causing severe side effects and does not resolve the proliferation of cancer. And thus, doctors may recommend other prostate treatments.

Risks and side effects of pelvic lymphadenectomy

Patients who undergo the treatment experiences fever, pain, lower extremity or genital edema, and gastrointestinal and urinary symptoms. Furthermore, it may trigger adverse effects on the adjacent organs as well.

Prostate cancer, many men report, change their lifestyle to a substantial extent and also affects the patient’s personal, social, and work life. However, it is treatable, and there are countless options and surgeries available for the same. Choose a reliable and authoritative Prostate Cancer Surgeon to get things straight.