New technique avoids penile urinary catheter use
- Published: 03 October 2008 16:08
- Author: Tom Downey
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- Last Updated: 03 October 2008 16:09
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A new technique, which eliminates the use of a penile urinary catheter, reduces the pain of prostate cancer surgery according to a study.
The new approach avoids implanting an irritating catheter by using robotic surgery and a study by American researchers found that it led to a considerable reduction in penile discomfort.
Instead of using a catheter, urine is re-routed from the bladder using a small narrow tube, which exits through a needle puncture below the gut.
In a study of 50 patients, those who received the regular catheter experienced pain and discomfort nine times greater than the experimental group.
Authors of the study wrote: 'The results are very exciting because through this new technology we are able to continually improve on the robotic surgical option that has given men a high rate of continence and sexual function.'
Although the new technique may prove to be a fundamental development for prostate cancer surgery, all patients may not be candidates for the procedure based on their body mass and amount of abdominal fat, prostate size or those who are taking blood thinning drugs.
