Cystoscopy

The bladder is one of the most important organs in your body. When an illness or injury affects the bladder, you realize how much it can impact your health and how painful it can make routine tasks, like going to the bathroom. A cystoscopy is a type of diagnostic procedure that determines if you have something wrong with your bladder.

• It does not involve invasive cutting. It is non-invasive and relatively painless.
• In fact, it can be performed right in your doctor’s office.

Prior to the procedure, your doctor will ask you to use the restroom to empty your bladder. You then will be asked to lie down on an examining table before the doctor or anesthesiologist applies a numbing anesthetic to your urethra. This numbing agent eliminates the sensation of the cystoscope being inserted into your bladder.

The cystoscope has a light on the end of it that allows the doctor to see the inside of your bladder. It also introduces the saline and water required to inflate your bladder so the doctor can get a clear look at the organ’s lining.

The entire procedure, from start to finish, lasts about 10 minutes. After it finishes, you will be allowed to go to the bathroom once again. You can then return home to await the results of your test.

You might wonder why cystoscope would be necessary. Some of the most common reasons that doctors ask patients to undergo this procedure include:

• Incontinence
• Painful intercourse
• Overactive bladder
• Frequent bladder or urethra stones
• Growths in the bladder
• Bladder cancer

Without this procedure, doctors would have no way to determine if patients suffer from serious illnesses like cancer. They would have to perform invasive surgery to examine the bladder were it not for cystoscopy.

Recovering from a cystoscope typically is not extensive or painful. You might notice a slight discomfort when you go to the bathroom. Your urine may even have a pink tinge to it. These symptoms are normal and go away on their own after one or two days.

You may also notice that you have to use the bathroom more often in the first 24 to 48 hours after the procedure. You likewise might have a full sensation in your lower abdomen. Like the other side effects, these symptoms are not too bothersome and dissipate on their own.