What is a Prostatectomy?
A prostatectomy is operation in which all or part of the prostate is removed. The prostate is a walnut-sized gland in the groin that produces the fluid in male semen. Because the prostate fully encompasses the urethra, any enlargement or tumor can restrict the normal flow of urine. This restriction causes symptoms such as difficult, painful, and/or frequent urination. Depending upon the progression of the enlarged gland. there are several types of prostatectomy that doctors may perform. The most common prostatectomy procedures are transurethral, perineal, retropubic, and suprapubic.
The risks involved in prostatectomy procedures are permanent or semi-permanent impotence. In addition, there are the more common risks such as the danger of serious bleeding or infection. However, if a cancerous prostate is left in place, the disease can also spread to other parts of the body and cause death.
A benign enlarged prostate or benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is found within more than half of all men in the United States in their 60s and as many as 90% of those over the age of 90. Benign enlargements are usually removed using a prostatectomy technique that requires an incision but rather a scope that is inserted into the urethra with a small score that is used to cut pieces of the gland off of the bladder and cauterize the area to stop bleeding. Malignant enlargements such as those found in prostate cancer, the second leading cause of death in men, sometimes may not require a prostatectomy at all but rather a method of watchful waiting. This technique is often used with slow growing cancer and through two major types of prostatectomy called radical retropubic prostatectomy and radical perineal prostatectomy. These prostatectomies are only performed on patients whose cancer is found only in the prostate. If cancer has spread into other parts of the body, removing the prostate will not prevent the remaining cancer from growing and spreading further.
|
