Cystoscopy

Hi Sanjuanita --

I'm not a doctor, but I can give you a few pointers - as I had a very pleasant cysto procedure last November. 

You didn't mention what your symptoms are - mine was microhematuria, and my urologist needed to make sure I didn't have bladder cancer.

Regardless of whether the patient is male or female, usually the urologist will instill a lubricating gel (mixed with an anesthetic, such as Lidocaine) into your urethra.  The urologist will wait for a few minutes to let the anesthetic take effect, then will insert the scope into you.  Because of the anesthetic and the lubricating gel, when the scope was inserted into me, I felt only a gentle 'stretching' and a pleasant stimulus as the scope was advanced into my body.  Once the scope was all the way into my bladder, I did not feel any sensations at all. 

So -

You very likely will have a flexible scope and a 'local' anesthetic as I have mentioned here.  The rigid cystoscopes are more often used under general anesthesia (you are 'out' for the procedure), and for reasons that include the insertion of tools to break up bladder calculi (stones) or to introduce other instruments to perform some task inside the bladder.  If the procedure is for simply having a look at your urethra and bladder to verify or diagnose a problem, then the flexible scope is most likely to be used.

Don't be afraid to call your urologist's office and talk with one of the staff there, who can let you know more details about the procedure.  I did, and the person I spoke with was able to verify that I would be having a flexible scope and lidocaine gel (local anesthetic).  This helped me relax for the procedure. 

So, my tips are: find out more about your procedure if you're not sure what is going to happen, and let your doctor know that you expect an anesthetic gel to be used.  

My guess is that you will probably have a comfortable and uneventful procedure if you do these two things to reassure yourself. 

I wish you well, and I hope everything goes very well for you!.          

After my experience I have these few suggestions for you, ask outright if is going to be a flexible or rigid scope and ask if they use a numbing gel and lube for the test.  I would find these things out before the day of the test and then repeat to them what they told you the day of the test.  I have had both horrible experiences with a cystoscopy and better ones.  My current doctor knows my issues and goes out of his way to make sure I am comfortable during the cystoscopy now which I have to have every 3 to 6 months.  INSIST of the numbing gel, it does work wonders, while this test is not without discomfort it should not ever be painful and a good doctor will make sure of that

Debbie