WHAT CAN ONE EXPECT WITH TOTAL REMOVAL OF THE PROSTATE GLAND AT SURGERY?
There are two methods of total prostate removal: 1, Radical retropubic prostatectomy, and 2, Radical perineal prostatectomy. In the retropubic type, a midline abdominal incision is made below the naval. The lymph nodes can be examined through the same incision. In the perineal type, separate incisions may be done on the abdomen to take some lymph nodes for testing, and if they are negative then the prostate is removed through an incision between the scrotum and the rectum. In Laparoscopic Surgery, healing time and hospital time will be shortened. The Robot is being used by many medical centers now. With the radical prostatectomy, by either method, there is a large possibility that a man will lose his potency; not his sex drive, but his ability to get an erection. There is a variation on the operation which is called a “nerve sparring” prostatectomy, after which a man may have his potency preserved about 50% of the time. I always tell my patients, that even if they lose potency while we
