Monday 5 May 2008

Prostate Surgery - Pros and Cons

My urologist was more than keen to get his knife on my enlarged prostate - partly because he could see a big hefty fee which would have been paid by my insurance! Enlarged prostate surgery is great for surgeons as it gives them some practice and looks great on their record if they have performed a large number of successful (?) operations. Thinking about it though afterwards in a more rational moment and before I said yes, I began to ponder what could be the consequences.

There is a small percentage of cases of incontinence after a prostate surgery operation and there is also a very small percentage of cases where impotence can be a problem and the dreaded erectile dysfunction or ED as it is diplomatically called, can ruin a man's sex life and cause endless psychological problems to boot. Solve one problem and get three back ! Most urologists tell you that if you never had an erectile problem before the op, then you are not likely to have one afterwards. Hmmm.....


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Basically, I had to decide and I went on taking the enlarged prostate medication (alpha blockers) which is what my other urologist had ordered. That decision was based on my quality of life which was at a high level, all things considered. However, for some men, the symptoms and problems may be so serious that they may not have that choice.


There is good news , however. The latest techniques in prostate surgery mean that they are less invasive and the risk of impotence and incontinence is much reduced. More and more men now have children at a later age . The main reason why the prostate grows is because there are hormonal changes which take place as we get older and this results in an enlarged prostate.
Green light laser surgery is now a well established technique. This selects the tissue to be removed and saves the healthier tissues including the nerves. A spinal anesthetic is used and it only requires an overnight stay in hospital. There is no bleeding, and the risk of retrograde ejaculation is reduced by 50%.

In cases where there is a swollen prostate, due to a chronic prostatitis, for which there is no known explanation and which antibiotics do not work efficiently, the patient may well be advised to opt for thermoablation by radio frequency. The heat destroys the nerves causing the pain and discomfort while preserving the sexual function of the patient.

CHECK OUT THIS SITE FOR MORE INFO ON ENLARGED PROSTATE TREATMENT

3 comments:

angelina said...
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Mad Health Freaks said...
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