Understanding A Prostate Biopsy Procedure By David Faulkner At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

If you have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, you want to make sure the diagnosis is completely accurate so that you can pursue the right type of treatment. One of the best ways of determining whether or not you have prostate cancer is with a prostate biopsy procedure. This procedure is the most thorough way of detecting cancer cells, even at its earliest stages. The goal behind a prostate biopsy procedure is to take a small amount of tissue from the area and examine it to see whether or not cancer cells are present. Here is how a prostate biopsy procedure is performed.

• Preparing for the biopsy: The first thing that you will do before you have a prostate biopsy procedure is to prepare for the medical test. By now you have already had an initial physical examination and your doctor suspects that something is abnormal. When a biopsy is performed, it can look at the cells to see if cancer is present. Your doctor will inform you of the procedures before it takes place. Your doctor may ask that you have an enema before the procedure to clean out the intestines beforehand. The doctor will also mostly likely prescribe antibiotics. This will help ensure that there are no infections present before the prostate biopsy procedure is performed. In addition, your doctor may ask that you do not take any medications prior to the procedure. For more info see http://www.prostatecancertreatmenthelp.com/Prostate_Biopsy on enlarged prostate.

• Determining the type of prostate biopsy procedure: Before your appointment, your doctor will have already determined which procedure is right for you. There are several different biopsy procedures that can be done. The most common is the needle in the perineum. A needle in inserted and cells are taken for examination. About 6-12 samples are taken. This procedure takes about 20 minutes and there are little to no difficulties from the procedure. Other common procedures are the needle in the rectum and the cytoscopy.

• Care after the procedure: Depending on which procedure you have, your doctor will recommend that you slow your daily activities and that you watch for swelling or bleeding. There is usually a little pain and discomfort, but it should not last more that two days. You should contact your doctor if you have problems urinating after 24 hours or have bleeding, swelling or fever.

There are usually little to no side effects of the prostate biopsy procedure except for mild pain and discomfort. Side effects can include difficulty urinating, bleeding from the rectum, a lowered sperm count and infection.

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