Once you are asleep, Dr Swindle will start the operation by inserting a fine telescope down the penis into the urethra. The urethra is the tube that drains urine from the bladder to the penis. This instrument allows Dr Swindle to examine the urethra, prostate and bladder. After the prostate has been inspected, the GreenLight Laser is used to vaporise the enlarged prostate tissue.
At the end of the operation a urinary catheter, which is a soft plastic tube, is placed inside the urethra to drain the urine from the bladder. The catheter will stay in place for 6 hours or until the morning after your procedure.
The procedure usually takes about 1 hour and at the end of the procedure you will be transferred to the recovery ward, where nurses keep a close eye on you for about an hour or so before transferring you back to the ward.
If you have a spinal anaesthetic you will be awake but drowsy and it is important that you remain still whilst Dr Swindle is operating. You will not feel any pain during the operation. There will be a feeling of numbness or heaviness in your legs for several hours after the operation and this is quite normal.
