How to Remove the Prostate Gland

Prostate gland removal rarely involves the whole prostate. The National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse reports that most doctors remove only the enlarged part of the prostate, the portion pressing upon the urethra. There are both minimally invasive methods to remove the prostate gland and more extensive surgical methods for prostate removal.

Things You'll Need

• Urologist
• Digital Rectal Examination (DRE)
• Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) Blood Tests
• Rectal Ultrasound
• Prostate Biopsy
• Urine Flow Study
• Cytoscopy (a procedure used to view your bladder and urethra)

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Instructions

• 1

  Biopsies can reveal cancer in the prostate gland.

  Get tested regularly. The results of tests and lab work will help you and your doctor decide whether prostate removal is right for you.

• 2

  The prostate gland continues to grow throughout a man's life.

  Try minimally invasive therapy. Transurethral microwave thermotherapy can be used to remove selected areas of the prostate. Microwave radiation is sent through a catheter to heat and destroy prostate tissue. Transurethral needle ablation uses twin needles and low-level radio waves to burn away portions of the prostate. Heated water can be passed through catheters to destroy prostate tissue in high-intensity focused ultrasound.

• 3

  Minimally invasive surgery often leads to less trauma and better recovery.

  Try transurethral surgery. This type of surgery involves no external incisions. The surgeon inserts instruments through the urethra to reach the prostate. Transurethral resection of the prostate is the most common surgery for prostate removal. A wire loop is used to remove tissue from the prostate gland.

• 4

  Lasers can be used to both make incisions and repair them.

  Lasers can also be used during surgery. In this procedure, a laser fiber is passed through the urethra to destroy prostate tissue. Photoselective vaporization of the prostate makes use of a high-energy laser to remove prostate gland tissue. Interstitial laser coagulation places the tip of a fiberoptic probe directly into prostate tissue to destroy and remove the prostate gland.

• 5

  Prostate tissue removal can improve quality of life.

  In suprapubic prostatectomy, an incision is made in the abdomen through which the prostate gland is removed. This procedure is used in cases of prostate cancer as well as in lymph nodes removal.