Rezum Procedure
Posted , 11 users are following.
I was diagnosed with acute urinary retention after a visit to an Urgency Care facility. I was catheterized and advised to see a Urologist ASAP. While waiting for my appointment I researched my problem and found the Rezum procedure as a possible solution. My Urologist agreed I would be a candidate for Rezum and scheduled me for the procedure 2 months later. The time passed and I had the procedure done two weeks ago under general anesthesia. I went home with a catheter and was instructed to return in two weeks for removal. I returned and they removed it, sent me home, and told me to drink 16 oz. of water per hour and call them back in four hours with an update on my urination capability. I got home and urinated successfully four times with a good stream the first hour, but after that I was unable to pass urine even though the urge was strong. Two hours later I returned to the Urologists office with progressing discomfort after drinking a lot of water. The nurse scanned my bladder and attempted to insert a catheter. The # 18 was crimping and wouldn't pass through the prostrate. Finally an hour and four nurses later they got a #24 to go in. They irrigated my bladder for another hour and showed me large clumps of blood as they were sucked out. They said the clumps were blocking my urine flow and sent me home with the @24 catheter inserted. They told me to return in a week to have it removed again. I am waiting anxiously to see if my situation will be resolved. The Urologist was not there but guided the nurses via phone. He mentioned that the fact I was peeing well the first hour was encouraging but I am certainly worried that I will have to undergo a repeat of the torture session. Anyone else have a similar experience after having the Rezum done and how was it resolved? Thank you, sorry for the long winded post.
James 88935
0 likes, 13 replies
timothy81571 james88935
Posted
I had Rezum on 12/14 and catheter for 6 days. The following night I started having issues with retention and flow. By week 3, I had to learn CIC to get through the nights. By week 4 I was peeing on my own, and by week 6 flow at night was better than it had been in years I peed a lot of blood and flesh during weeks 2-4, so you're body may not be able to get rid of it while the catheter is in (just a thought). I had no blood at all the first week with the catheter. It all started after it was taken out. Good luck!
Tim
keith42667 james88935
Posted
This procedure does look less traumatic. I went to the website and it shows how the instrument that they use has like, little tenticles that, apparently, push through the Urethra into the prostate to inject the steam. That seems much preferable to just reaming out the whole urethra et al. Thats always confused me why no one seems to ever mention the damage to the urethra with a TURP or GL. I guess it just grows back and its no big deal.
Sad to hear you're having this problem. I had some clots when I first started doing cic about 22 months ago. It was a little shocking to see them come out; and then my urine was red to pink for about a week. I had a large red rubber catheter that the clinic had here in my little town in Idaho. I was guess it was about an FR 18. I use a 12 hydrophilic now, just for reference. That large catheter might have cleared away some blood clots that were in my bladder but it didn't help my BPH. I'm still hoping for more improvement just with bladder rehab. I haven't had an mri or even a cystoscopy but my GP says my prostate is not that "impressive".
derek76 keith42667
Posted
They don't ream out the Urethra with GL or HoLep. They just go through it to get the laser to the prostate. There is trauma to the urethra due to the instruments and being spongy it absorbs blood and is swollen for a while. Much of the post procedure blood during urination is from the urethra.
You should go to Youtube and watch the procedures.
glenn77 derek76
Posted
Derek,
I don't believe that's the case for GL procedures. I watched the GL videos and actually had a GL procedure, and I feel certain that the laser ablates the urethra and the underlying targeted prostate material. In fact, I asked the doctor who did the GL procedure, and he said it takes about a week to 1 0 days for the urethra to reform.
Glenn
glenn77
Posted
Most of my message was trucated. I watched the GL procedure, and then had GL for BPH. I asked the doctor who did the procedure, and he said the urethra and targeted prostate material are ablated. He said that in a week to 10 days, the urethra regrows. (Unfortunately, my external sphincter was damaged during the procedure, leaving me with strictures and high level incontinence. Nearly two years later, and 5 more procedures, I finally had an AUS implant that helped me regain some quality of life.)
rdemyan derek76
Posted
I don't believe that this is correct for HoLEP. HoLEP does "ream" out the prostate urethra. The only common procedures that I'm aware of that don't are urolift and rezum.
derek76 glenn77
Posted
I had GL in 2004 with a quick recovery and also a later trouble free Thulium/Holmium procedure in 2013 when I was told what I repeated about the urethra.
TKM james88935
Posted
James,
Size 24 is a large catheter it should be able to pass clots better than a small diameter cath like 14 or 12.As you heal in coming weeks there will be less clots, so it should improve. As Timothy said if you leave a Foley catheter in it will flush clots out of you bladder, but not the prostate, At some point you may want to start using intermittent catheters, to let the prostate flush out.
Thomas
james88935 TKM
Posted
Thank you Thomas,
That size 24 looks huge and feels like a rope. They irrigated my bladder through it for the better part of an hour. It was difficult getting it through my prostrate and I hope the larger diameter does the job with the clots. The first two leg bags were dark red and then started to get clear as I drank water continuously. I will know more next week when they remove it.
Good luck to us all.
alan86734 james88935
Posted
Hi, Thomas,
Your experience mirrors mine posted under "Flip flow valve ........" started by Doloroso, except for one detail which I find interesting. You were required to drink water to fill your bladder (hopefully not saline!!!). In my case the Fr-22 catheter was a 3-way which allowed the incoming saline to be supplied from an overhead bag, the outgoing flow drained through the second tube discharging into a collection bag while the third tube controlled balloon inflation/deflation.
Another small procedural difference I noted and asked about was that in this case the Foley balloon, once inflated, was not pulled back into the bladder neck but allowed to float freely in the main bulk of urine and saline. This was to ensure that the saline wash reached all the surfaces , bladder walls and neck. The entire procedure took about 50 minuts, used up 1000 ml. of saline, after which the catheter was removed. As was to be expected, there was some minor bleeding after this last action. So, Thomas, did you ever find out if your Fr-24 was a two-way or a three way catheter?
I was discharged with the usual cautionary instructions. As it happened I did pass more blood before my stream suddenly went crystal clear and I have been fine ever since. The take-home knowledge is that spicy foods can trigger acute 100% urine retention regardless of whether one is a "young 89 year old", or not!
Warm regards to all, alan86734.
james87669 james88935
Posted
Wow, what a horror show! Not a good plug for Rezum procedure!
I would suggest finding a surgeon who is experienced with HoLep/ThuLep and sign up asap, you'll be glad you did!
james88935 james87669
Posted
Thanks for your reply James87669,
It might be too early to evaluate the Rezum procedure. Everyone recovers at a different rate and has individual circumstances and maybe complications. Also, sometimes you replace one doc and get someone even worse. I must admit it did cross my mind though. I go in this Wednesday to have the Cath removed and will go from there. I am in week 3 post procedure and sometimes it can be difficult to determine success at this point.
Thanks for your suggestions.
timothy81571 james88935
Posted
I would ask them to show you how to CIC and give you some catheters so you don't have to go through this again. I only had to do it once a night for a week during my recovery. Way too soon for someone to be recommending another procedure. It may take 2-3 months to open up.