Cryotherapy for Prostate Conditions
Cryotherapy is effective in patients who have low-risk tumor factors, a prostate specific antigen level lower than 10 ng/mL, a less advanced clinical stage and Gleason score less than 6, which means the cancer does not have an increased change to spread beyond the prostate. The procedure is useful to kill cancer cells which are not sensitive to radiation.
Cryotherapy is a less invasive procedure compared with the radical prostatectomy, which means less blood is lost, the hospital stay is shorter or even none, less pain and a shorter recovery period. As the procedure can be done with a local anesthesia, instead of a general one, this might benefit older men or men with various conditions such as heart disease, lung disease or diabetes.
Procedure
The patient will have to fast for 8 hours before the procedure, sign a consent form for the procedure and stop smoking as soon as possible before the procedure.
During the procedure a catheter is placed into the bladder, through the urethra, to drain urine and fill it with a saline solution, to help the urine drain after the prostate swells after the treatment. The same catheter will be used to circulate a warm liquid through the urethra to prevent it from freezing due to the cold temperatures used during the procedure.
Sometimes the surgeon will choose regional anesthesia, if general anesthesia is not necessary. The cryoprobes or needles will be inserted in the areas between the scrotum and the anus, to place a liquid cooling agent, usually argon. The area will be frozen for only several minutes, then it will be thawed by inserting helium.
The surgeon will then extract the needles, leave the catheter in the bladder, apply a sterile bandage and the patient will be moved to the recovery room. The patient may be allowed to go home the same day or the following one. After the procedure the patient might have swelling and bruising in the perineum area, notice some blood in the urine for a day or two, swelling in the scrotum and penis, pain in the abdomen, burning sensations and impotence due to nerve damage.