How is The Prostate Cancer Biopsy Procedure Really Done?
You may have already been given by your doctor some hints that you actually have prostate cancer, but one could never be so sure yet not unless you undergo a procedure that will determine it, called biopsy of the prostate gland. Samples of prostate gland tissues will then be taken from you in order for it to be carefully examined under the microscope for signs of cancer cell growth. That’s just a preview, but what exactly is a prostate biopsy and how exactly is it done?
So the first thing that you ought to know about this procedure is that it is carried out by a urologist, which is a doctor who specializes in urinary system problems on men. The three forms that the procedure could take form in could also be done in various places such as in your doctor’s clinic, in his office, or in the hospital most ideally:
The first form of procedure would be called the transrectal prostate biopsy and it is done wherein the patient will be asked to position oneself on his knees, or lying on his side, or perhaps lying on his back with both feet elevated by stirrups. In order to minimize the pain and discomfort, the doctor will then inject a local anesthesia just around the area of the prostate before moving on with the next procedure.
The second form of biopsy for the prostate is then known as a transurethral prostate biopsy for a reason: because the tissue samples that will be tested will actually be collected from somewhere in the patient’s urethra. The doctor will then have to use a device that has a light at the end and this procedure is called a cystoscopy where the scope will then have to pass through the urethra into the prostate gland, and then cut a sample of the tissue from inside. The whole procedure could be as short as 30 minutes to as long as 45 minutes and most of the time the doctors will use local anesthesia but then there are cases wherein a general anesthesia will be required.
Last but not the least, the transperineal prostate biopsy is the third form of prostate gland biopsy that doctors use. This procedure will require the doctor to make a tiny incision just at the perineum of the patient where the anus and the scrotum meets. The doctor will then insert a finger down the patient’s rectum to hold down his prostate and position it while the doctor also inserts a biopsy needle into where the incision was previously made and reach it as far as where the prostate will be in order to collect the tissue sample. This third form is slightly complicated and is the least used of all the three procedures and would take about 15 minutes to a half an hour.
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