Bouncing Back From a Bad Bladder

TURBT, or TransUrethral Resection of Bladder Tumor, is a common procedure done at the men’s wellness center at the Austin Urology Institute. Austin urologist Dr. Koushik Shaw has performed this specialized procedure for over 14 years, with hundreds of TURBT procedures performed. A TURBT is performed when there is a diagnosis of bladder cancer. A Urological cancer like bladder Cancer is diagnosed most often in people with a smoking history and the link between smoking and carcinogens that appear in the urine and bladder cancer is well documented in scientific literature.

In most situations, patients with either notable blood in the urine (gross hematuria) or microscopic hematuria (noted in a microscope at the lab/doctors office) results in a visit or consultation with us. Our workup involves identifying the location of the tumor, starting with a CT of the abdomen and pelvis, a urine cytology (cancer cell screen) as well as cystoscopy, or looking in the bladder to evaluate for bladder cancer in detail.  The cystoscopy is a minimally invasive procedure that typically takes 90 seconds or less in our office using the latest in digital scope technology.

Once diagnosed and localized, if the bladder tumor is confined to the bladder, we can schedule a 1-hour outpatient procedure to remove the bladder cancer in its entirety, called the TURBT.  Several studies suggest that concurrent administration of MMC, or Mitomycin-C, in the bladder at the time of the procedure can markedly reduce the likelihood of recurrent bladder cancer. The level of care that our urological cancer surgeon, Dr. Koushik Shaw operates on is second to none, and his level of knowledge is beyond compare to any other men’s wellness clinics in Austin.

Following up with BCG treatment, which can be done in-office, can further reduce recurrence of bladder cancer and in many individuals reduce the need for more radical surgery on the bladder (cystectomy), chemotherapy, or radiation therapy.

Visit us at https://austinurologyinstitute.com/mens-health/ or call us at 512-694-8888 to discuss further.