Cystoscopy Specialist

What is a cystoscopy?

A cystoscopy is a special in-office procedure that enables your doctor at Advanced Urology of South Florida to look inside your bladder.

During this test, your doctor inserts a thin tube with a small camera and light through your urethra, the tube connected to your bladder that carries urine out of your body. Once the camera reaches your bladder, it transmits images to a monitor.

A cystoscopy can identify a number of bladder conditions, including:

• Stones or blockages
• An enlarged prostate gland
• Cancerous and noncancerous growths

Your doctor can also use cystoscopy to identify issues with your ureters. The ureters connect your bladder and kidneys.

Why do I need a cystoscopy?

The providers at Advanced Urology of South Florida may recommend a cystoscopy to look for the cause of several urinary problems, such as:

• Pelvic pain
• Blood in your urine
• Frequent urinary tract infections
• Overactive bladder, or the urge to urinate often and urgently

Cystoscopy can also be used to treat some bladder conditions, perform biopsies, gather urine samples, inject dye to look for kidney problems and insert stents that help with urine flow.

What can I expect during a cystoscopy?

Your Advanced Urology of South Florida doctor performs your cystoscopy on-site. They may recommend local, general, or regional anesthesia. With local anesthesia, you’re awake during the procedure, general anesthesia completely sedates you, and regional anesthesia numbs you below the waist.

Before your cystoscopy, you empty your bladder. After lying back on the treatment table, your urethra is numbed with a gel or spray anesthetic. If you’re awake during your procedure, you may feel mild sensations but little discomfort.

Your provider lubricates the cystoscope before inserting it in your urethra. For diagnostic cystoscopies, the scope is thin and flexible. If you have a cystoscopy to treat a condition or to perform a biopsy, your doctor typically uses a more rigid scope that allows instruments to be passed through.

When the scope is in place, your doctor looks through a lens to see inside your bladder. To improve their view, they fill your bladder with a sterile liquid, which may make you feel like you have to urinate.

A cystoscopy can take less than five minutes when you have local anesthesia. If you have general anesthesia or sedation, it can take 15-30 minutes.

If you’re experiencing urinary discomfort, call Advanced Urology of South Florida or schedule an appointment online.