Patients should notify their physician of any medications they are taking, including prescriptions, over-the-counter medications and vitamins. Patients will be instructed to refrain from eating or drinking after midnight the night before their surgery. Additional pre-operative instructions may be provided by the patient’s physician as well.

Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) is an in-patient procedure, which means that the patient will be hospitalized afterward. Therefore, patients should make arrangements, such as notifying their employer of a planned absence from work, ahead of time.

Before the procedure, the patient will be prepped for surgery and the adjacent areas of skin will be shaved and scrubbed with a disinfectant soap.  Patients will then receive a general anesthesia which will put the person asleep, or will be given a spinal anesthetic, which numbs the patient below the waste.

During the TURP, a resectoscope (a lighted tool with a small loop of wire on the end) is passed through the end of the penis and into the urethra (canal through which urine is discharged) as far up as the prostate. The surgeon then removes part of the prostate gland surrounding the urethra. This is accomplished by passing electricity through a wire that heats up and cuts or vaporizes tissue. The pieces of removed tissue are carried into the bladder by the fluid. At the end of the procedure, the tissues are flushed out of the body. This procedure does not require an incision, which means that the patient’s skin will not be cut with a surgical scalpel. TURP usually takes about one to two hours.

Following the procedure, a catheter is insterted into the urethra to help drain urine from the bladder while the prostate heals. The catheter is usually removed after one to three days. However, some patients will be discharged from the hospital with a catheter in place. It will be removed at the physician’s office at a later date. Patients may also be prescribed pain medication after the procedure, and those who experience constipation as a side effect of the medication may be given a laxative or daily stool softener.

The patient is typically allowed to leave the hospital when he is able to urinate on his own. In most cases, this will take one or two days. If there are no conmplications, the patient should be able to return to work within a week or two. Patients may be urged to refrain from drinking coffee, cola drinks and alcoholic beverages for a period of time, as these can cause irritation of the bladder and urethra. Strenuous activity, heavy lifting and sexual intercourse should be avoided after the procedure for several weeks. The patient will need to schedule a follow-up visit with their surgeon but should immediately report any of the following symptoms:

• Increased pain
  
  
• Pain that is not alleviated with medication
  
  
• Increase in bloody discoloration of urine
  
  
• Fever that exceeds 100.8 degrees Fahrenheit (38.2 degrees Celsius) or chills
  
  
• Persistent fatigue and depression
  
  
• Constipation that cannot be relieved
  
  
• Nausea or vomiting
  
  
• Inability to empty the bladder within six hours or frequent urination in small amounts