Many men shy away from the very idea of undergoing a prostate biopsy and yet the procedure is relatively short, simple and painless and can certainly save a great deal of painful treatment at a later date if prostate cancer goes undiagnosed.
Although there are a number of tests used to indicate the possible presence of prostate cancer, including the prostate specific antigen, or PSA, test and the digital rectal examination, or DRE, the only way to make a positive diagnosis of prostate cancer is by means of a prostate biopsy.
The prostate biopsy is an essential test for people who have been identified as being at high risk from prostate cancer and, while many men shy away from procedure, or put it off as long as possible, the fear of the procedure is more imagined than real.
While it is certainly fair to say that a prostate biopsy is an uncomfortable procedure, most men report that it is relatively pain free and the number of men reporting pain following the procedure is quite small.
There are a number of different prostate biopsy procedures used today, but perhaps the most common procedure is the core needle biopsy. Here a number of very small tissue samples are removed from different areas of the prostrate using a biopsy gun which fires a needle into the area from which the sample is to be taken to remove the sample within just a fraction of a second. These samples are then sent for laboratory analysis to determine whether cancer is present and, if so, to determine just how much of the prostate is affected.
In most cases the prostate is accessed through the wall of the rectum as this provides reasonably easy access to the prostate gland. This procedure is normally carried out under local anesthetic and typically takes about 30 minutes.
In some cases however the prostate gland is accessed through the urethra, which passes through the prostate gland. Here a lighted scope with a small cutting loop is inserted into the urethra to collect the samples and the procedure is again carried out under local anesthetic (or occasionally under general anesthetic) and takes between 30 and 45 minutes.
Yet another, although less common option, is to collect needle biopsy samples through the perineum, which is the area that lies between the rectum and the scrotum. In this case the urologist will use a finger inserted into the rectum to hold the prostate gland steady and will then insert the biopsy needle through a small incision made in the perineum. This procedure is again carried out under local anesthetic (or again occasionally under general anesthetic) and although this is the fastest procedure, taking only about 15 minutes, it is not often carried out these days.
At the end of the day dealing with prostate cancer is far from pleasant and the relatively small and short-lived discomfort of the prostate biopsy is a small price to pay to detect the presence of this life-threatening condition at a stage when dealing with it is relatively simple.
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