Recovery time following prostatectomy will vary depending on the type of surgery performed:

• Radical prostatectomy (retropubic or perineal). This surgery may require the patient to stay hospitalized for two or three days and miss work for three to five weeks. The catheter may remain for one to three weeks. When the patient urinates, the fluid flows through the plastic tube and collects in a bag for disposal.
  
  
• Laparoscopic prostatectomy. Long-term experience with laparoscopic prostatectomy is not yet available. This surgery may require a hospital stay of only one day. Some physicians and patients report that it involves fewer complications, less pain and faster recovery than open surgery.
  
  
• Partial (simple) prostatectomy (transurethral resection of the prostate [TURP] or transurethral incision of the prostate [TUIP]). Generally, a patient is discharged from the hospital after a day or two and can return to work in a week or two. A catheter placed through the urethra is used for a few days to drain urine from the bladder. TUIP does not always require a hospital stay.

If the surgery was performed for cancer, the surgeon and oncologists will review the pathology reports. Some patients may need to receive additional treatments, such as radiation therapy or hormone therapy. Recent studies have suggested that removal of the prostate and surrounding lymph nodes may be adequate treatment for advance prostate cancer. Although adding radiation therapy may reduce the risk of the cancer returning, it did not seem to improve overall survival. However, the use of radiation therapy following prostatectomy to destroy any remaining cancer cells continues to be an area of debate.

For other men, the follow-up plan will include regular visits to a physician and tests including a blood test for a substance called prostate-specific antigen (PSA). Additional blood tests, scans and x-rays may also be performed. If the tests indicate recurrent cancer, possible treatments include radiation therapy, cryotherapy, hormone therapy or chemotherapy.