Uro advises complete removal of the prostate except shell via TURP??

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Brief history:

28g prostate; median lobe obstruction

2018 Urolift that failed after 3 months

2020 Part TURP to remove median lobe causing raised bladder neck; partially successful.

My symptoms :

  1. Continual pain since Urolift
  2. Poor and intermittent flow though I am managing so long as it doesn't get worse
  3. On a recent cystoscopy, only one small area of the prostate was found to be obstructing flow. The Uro moved the scope back and forth through this area which was looked to me like 'curtains' flopping back as he pulled the scope out.

My urologist is now suggesting a 'completion' TURP which he is saying means completely removing all prostate material except the outer prostatic capsule, and in doing so will flush out all Urolift clip ends in the Urethra to see if the release of tension will resolve my ongoing pain.

This is being done on the NHS and I can understand that having had two unsatisfactory operations they probably think it best to now go for the max so I don't come back again. However removing the entire prostate seems drastic and I am concerned that I could end up with incontinence or ED as a result.

Has anyone on here had a so called 'completion' TURP or do you know if removing all of the prostate could put too much strain on the lower sphincter leading to leakage? (the bladder sphincter has already gone in the 2020 operation as I understand it)

Another thought/question I had was whether removing all the prostate via TURP has ever been done to resolve prostate cancer?

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1 Reply

  • Posted

    My cousin in the US went to a specialist who used robotic surgery to "scrape out" the stuff inside of the capsule of the prostate. He suffered with inability to empty his bladder for years and it's likely the bladder was stretched out and not very elastic as a result. He had the surgery (laparoscopically) and took a few months to recover but he's very happy now with no issues.

    I was told my my urologist before 3 TURPs that he preferred to take out only as much tissue as needed to restore urinary function. He explained that if you leave the rest of the tissue, if prostate cancer showed up, the entire prostate would be removed along with the cancer. If all that tissue is taken out proactively then the cancer may "wander" elsewhere instead of living happily in the prostate.

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