What is a Cystoscopy? – Urologist New York City

August 7, 2014

A cystoscopy is a procedure which allows a urologic surgeon, or urologist New York to see inside of the lower urinary tract (which is made up of: urethra, prostate, bladder neck and bladder) using a narrow-like instrument with a camera to the head of the scope (known as a cystoscope). The cystoscope is inserted through the urethra and slowly advances into the bladder. By way of the scope, the physician is capable of seeing if there are any abnormalities that are present from the urethra to the bladder. It involves a closer look at the urinary tract from the inside and images from the camera are displayed on a screen where your doctor can see them. A cystoscopy is also helpful to the urologist New York City because if he wishes to biopsy the tissue he may by inserting a thin instrument into the cystoscope to remove a sample of the tissue. A cystoscopy is a fundamental procedure because it helps diagnose bladder cancer, blood in urine, pelvic pain, urinary stones and urinary tract infections.

The Procedure

Just before you begin the procedure, the urologist will indicate that you must empty your bladder at which point you will change into a surgical gown and lie down on your back on a treatment table. The nurse provides patients with antibiotics to help prevent any form of bladder infection. You will then be given general or regional anesthetic (general means you’ll be conscious while regional will have a sedative to relax you). Your urethra is numbed down with a gel to make the procedure less painful and the scope will also be gelled down and carefully inserted into the urethra. The urology doctor New York will be looking through a lens as the scope enters your bladder. There will be a sterile solution that will flow to flood your bladder which allows the doctos to see what is going on. Although it sounds painful, it is actually just a little uncomfortable but not to worry, with local anesthetic a cystoscopy may take less than five minutes. With general anesthesia, the procedure may take anywhere between 10-30 minutes.

Aftermath

There are very few potential risks when it comes to a cystoscopy and it is a quick and effective alternative to finding out if everything is functioning properly in the urethra, prostate and bladder. Post cystoscopy, it is normal to have a burning sensation while urinating for a few days after the procedure. If you feel you have to urinate more often than before, don’t worry, for it is normal. If you try and hold this urine, the blood in your bladder could clot and create a blockage. Blood in urine is also common if you just had a biopsy. An effective solution to this would be drinking lots of water to ease the burning and bleeding. You may also develop a few other complications if not following the specific instructions that your urologist New York gives you. Some of these complications include: swollen urethra (this makes urination difficult, if you are not able to urinate for more than eight hours post-procedure, contact your doctor), infection which happens in rare cases that germs enter your urinary tract (you’ll know because you will feel fever, strange smelling urine, nausea and lower back pain in which you’ll need antibiotics.

Convalescence and Results

As with any medical procedure no matter how large or how small, you’re going to need time to rest and during this period you’re going to need to drink lots of fluid and stay close to the bathroom. To help ease the pain, your doctor may advise you to hold a warm washcloth over your urethra to help relieve any pain or discomfort. As mentioned before, general anesthesia may have you feeling more discomfort than that of local/regional anesthesia which means you’re going to need to have someone stay with you. No alcohol is a given, don’t operate heavy machinery or drive for the rest of that day, you’re going to need time to heal if you had a biopsy. Ask your urologist New York City when the best time to have sexual intercourse is. As far as results go, you might have the immediately prior to the procedure or if you had a biopsy it may take a few days to wait for the lab results.
The desire and need to look inside the human body has existed since the beginning of time but it wasn’t until 1807 that a German army surgeon by the name of Phillip Bozzini came up with the early invention of an endoscope, although he did not live to see his invention in use, his idea revolutionized medicine and was the basis for most procedures done today involving internal organs. A urologist New York utilizes a cystoscopy on a daily basis and the images retrieved by the cystoscope has helped to identify problems from millions of patients all over the world. For more information on a cystoscopy, make sure to contact us today for more information.