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Having a cytoscopy

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User
Posted 07 Mar 2022 at 15:06

As a side-effect of RT (I think) I find myself with some urinary issues and I've been told that I'll get an outpatient appointment for a cytoscopy examination. Goodness knows by now I should be used to having things stuck into me, but the thought of a cytoscopy doesn't fill me with boundless joy 🙂.


I know that this is a procedure that a number of people here have had done. Can anyone tell me what's involved? I'm an awful coward - does it hurt? Any after-effects?


Cheers,


Chris


 

User
Posted 07 Mar 2022 at 17:04

Chris my experiences, remove trousers and pants put a gown on and paper underpants, keep shoes and socks on. Into the treatment room and sit on a recliner chair. I got a squirt of instilagel that takes a few minutes to numb the penis, but they don't have time to wait ☹️. The camera goes in with water running through it, I was able to watch the action on the monitor. The camera comes out and I dried off. In the wrong hands it can be slightly uncomfortable in the right hands totally pain free. Once dressed off to have a pee, i haven't figured out how they get the razor blades into the urethra 😀,but they quickly disappear.


Had a few, never been an issue.


Thanks Chris


 

Edited by member 07 Mar 2022 at 17:27  | Reason: Spelling

User
Posted 09 Mar 2022 at 07:54
I believe it's a flexible one.

Chris
User
Posted 11 Mar 2022 at 11:37
I've had both a flexible (that was straightforward) and rigid (a disaster). The flexible cysto was to check for a bladder tumour following blood in urine. It was done at outpatients under local anaesthetic. Helped that I could see on a screen the probe revealing inside of my bladder! Consultant could find no trace of a tumour.

Unfortunately an MRI scan subsequently 'revealed' a tumour 30x38mm, so decision was taken to do a rigid cysto.

Rigid was was under general anaesthetic. This also failed to find a tumour but the invasive procedure left me with urinary incontinence that was considerably worse than it had been immediately beforehand. Prior to the procedure I leaked c.20ml/day (itself the fall-out from a prostatectomy and external beam radiotherapy ten years earlier). But from the moment I stepped out of the hospital following the rigid cysto three years ago to this very day my leakage has been consistently ten times worse, anything up to 600ml or more a day.

At first the consultant insisted there was no way the cycstoscopy could have triggered the problem, but eventually he accepted the possibility the procedure might have disturbed tissues previously damaged by the RP and EBRT I'd had ten years prior.

A friend has since told me her urologist warned her that a rigid cystoscopy was akin to the rape of the bladder! I have also read that rigid cystos are statistically more likely than flexibles to lead to complications, paerhaps because a flexible will be for less serious conditions but the suggestion was also made that when the patient is under general anaesthetic the surgeon is under less scrutiny.

Make of that what you will!

User
Posted 13 May 2022 at 18:45

Not something to look forward to Chris, I hope it goes as well as possible.


 

Ido4

User
Posted 13 May 2022 at 19:08

good luck Chris sure you will be fine 👍

User
Posted 16 May 2022 at 16:04
Well, that's another experience to cross off the bucket list 🙂. Not pleasant, but not too awful. Although when the "recovery leaflet" says "you may experience a mild burning sensation when passing water", that's a massive understatement. Chris's "razor blades" are nearer the mark! Let's hope that doesn't last too long.

Got an appointment with the consultant next month to discuss the results.

Chris
User
Posted 17 May 2022 at 11:10

Happy to say that this morning 95% of the burning pain has gone. No other side-effects, thankfully. Just have to wait and see what the consultant advises now.


Cheers,


Chris

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User
Posted 07 Mar 2022 at 17:04

Chris my experiences, remove trousers and pants put a gown on and paper underpants, keep shoes and socks on. Into the treatment room and sit on a recliner chair. I got a squirt of instilagel that takes a few minutes to numb the penis, but they don't have time to wait ☹️. The camera goes in with water running through it, I was able to watch the action on the monitor. The camera comes out and I dried off. In the wrong hands it can be slightly uncomfortable in the right hands totally pain free. Once dressed off to have a pee, i haven't figured out how they get the razor blades into the urethra 😀,but they quickly disappear.


Had a few, never been an issue.


Thanks Chris


 

Edited by member 07 Mar 2022 at 17:27  | Reason: Spelling

User
Posted 07 Mar 2022 at 17:19
Thanks, Chris, that's very reassuring.

Chris
User
Posted 07 Mar 2022 at 22:16

Like most things, the reality isn't quite as bad as the foreboding! I had one a couple of months ago, and although the insertion of the gadget was uncomfortable, the actual procedure was quick and not too horrible. The consultant made sure I could see the screen, and kept up a running commentary to distract me" 'Ooh look - that's your prostate. See those concentric lines? That's radiation scarring!' The next 24 hours were uncomfortable though!


Hermit

Edited by member 07 Mar 2022 at 22:16  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 07 Mar 2022 at 22:18
Sorry mate no comment …….
It was nothing like the leaflet. My Urologist explained he had to get to London in an hour so was in a rush. I think I broke the assistants hand 😢
User
Posted 08 Mar 2022 at 06:17

I always have a General
Barry

User
Posted 08 Mar 2022 at 18:16

Apart from the digital rectal exam, it was the first invasive procedure and I wasn't looking forward to it.


However, apart from a slight ouch moment when the instilagel (lubricant, antiseptic, anesthetic) gel was put in, it was sufficiently painless that my attention was entirely grabbed by the image on the screen of walking up my urethra, going though my prostate, and looking around the inside of my bladder, none of which I imaged I would ever see the insides of, and it was fascinating. It's all over very quickly.


After the camera came out, urethra was a bit uncomfortable for the next hour or so.


I noticed in my medical records afterwards it says a video is available, which I will request next time I get an updated set of medical records.

Edited by member 08 Mar 2022 at 18:19  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 08 Mar 2022 at 18:56
Thanks, everyone!

Chris
User
Posted 08 Mar 2022 at 19:49
Obviously I don't have a penis but apart from that, the plumbing is the same. I have had a few cystoscopies and never had a problem
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
User
Posted 08 Mar 2022 at 20:23
But yours lacks the right-angle bends, Lyn 🙂. It's going around the corners that slightly concerns me!

Chris
User
Posted 08 Mar 2022 at 22:29
If you are worried about the 90° angle, don't be ... not many men would get an erection while a camera is being shoved up their penis

Are you having a rigid cystoscopy or a flexible one?
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
User
Posted 09 Mar 2022 at 07:54
I believe it's a flexible one.

Chris
User
Posted 09 Mar 2022 at 10:04
I must have had about 7 (I had low level bladder cancer). I didn’t find them too bad at first, all over quite quickly to. They usually gave me the screen to look at which helped take my mind off what’s going on ‘down there’. However, the more I had the more uncomfortable they became - that’s not unusual I’m told.

Zum
User
Posted 09 Mar 2022 at 11:52

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member
Are you having a rigid cystoscopy or a flexible one?


As far as I know, rigid cystoscopies (at least in men) are only done under general anesthesia.

User
Posted 09 Mar 2022 at 11:56
That's why I asked
"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard
User
Posted 09 Mar 2022 at 14:17
I was told that it would be done under local anaesthetic, so I'm guessing it's the flexible one, anyway.

Chris
User
Posted 09 Mar 2022 at 14:41

Chris, I think also because you were told it would be an outpatient appointment there is a good chance it will be a flexible cystoscopy. 


Due to my stricture and the possible need to enter the bladder through the suprapubic site, I have been waiting four months to have a flexible cystoscopy under GA as a day patient. There was a two month wait for a flexible cystoscopy as an outpatient but it got cancelled the week before the appointment.


Thanks Chris

User
Posted 09 Mar 2022 at 19:06

My flexible cytoscopy took less than an hour start to finish When it was done the consultant even reviewed the ct scan I had had a week before and discussed the results (no bad news!) with me. That just left the urine flow test to do ... but that's another story! The investigation was for an episode of blood in my urine 2 years after radiotherapy had ended, but the conclusion was just  residual damage from the r/t. Just goes to show ...


Hermit.

Edited by member 09 Mar 2022 at 19:08  | Reason: Not specified

User
Posted 11 Mar 2022 at 11:37
I've had both a flexible (that was straightforward) and rigid (a disaster). The flexible cysto was to check for a bladder tumour following blood in urine. It was done at outpatients under local anaesthetic. Helped that I could see on a screen the probe revealing inside of my bladder! Consultant could find no trace of a tumour.

Unfortunately an MRI scan subsequently 'revealed' a tumour 30x38mm, so decision was taken to do a rigid cysto.

Rigid was was under general anaesthetic. This also failed to find a tumour but the invasive procedure left me with urinary incontinence that was considerably worse than it had been immediately beforehand. Prior to the procedure I leaked c.20ml/day (itself the fall-out from a prostatectomy and external beam radiotherapy ten years earlier). But from the moment I stepped out of the hospital following the rigid cysto three years ago to this very day my leakage has been consistently ten times worse, anything up to 600ml or more a day.

At first the consultant insisted there was no way the cycstoscopy could have triggered the problem, but eventually he accepted the possibility the procedure might have disturbed tissues previously damaged by the RP and EBRT I'd had ten years prior.

A friend has since told me her urologist warned her that a rigid cystoscopy was akin to the rape of the bladder! I have also read that rigid cystos are statistically more likely than flexibles to lead to complications, paerhaps because a flexible will be for less serious conditions but the suggestion was also made that when the patient is under general anaesthetic the surgeon is under less scrutiny.

Make of that what you will!

User
Posted 12 May 2022 at 19:38
Having my cytoscopy procedure on Monday. I go for a pre-procedure PCR test tomorrow, after which I have to isolate myself until the procedure on Monday afternoon. I'm not looking forward to it, but it needs doing.

Cheers,

Chris
 
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