Biopsy to diagnose prostate cancer cause temporary erectile dysfunction and in some cases lasting urinary problems, according to the Journal of Urology. For experts, these patients and those who made a routine should be aware of these risks, that would be associated with the number of punctures made.
A German team followed 198 men, who by chance had undergone one of three types of biopsies for a possible prostate cancer. The subjects underwent: a traditional biopsy needle to obtain no more than 10 samples of tissue for biopsy of 10 samples periprostatic nerve block to prevent pain, or a biopsy, “saturation” with 20 tissue samples (used when a patient would be at high risk of cancer). But the follow-up revealed that all these pricks would cost.
The men who had undergone a biopsy of saturation had the highest risk of developing prolonged urinary disorders. 10 percent of this group had severe symptoms before the biopsy, this figure rose to 18 percent for the week of test and 29 percent at 12 weeks.
The men studied by a traditional biopsy showed an increase of urinary symptoms only during the first week. In this group, with moderate amount from 32 to 39 percent, while the proportion with severe symptoms increased from 18 to 20.5 percent.
In the study group with a biopsy nerve block, only 0.6 percent had severe urinary symptoms before the test. That increased to 8 percent a week of biopsy and almost 17 percent to 12 weeks.
As for erectile dysfunction, all participants felt more problems for the week of the biopsy. But the side effects disappeared with time. Half of the men studied with traditional biopsy and biopsy of saturation severe erectile dysfunction underwent a week of the diagnostic test, compared to fourth before the biopsy.
In the group studied biopsy nerve block, that number increased from 11 to 39 percent. At 12 weeks, the number of men with erection problems had recovered the initial levels. The results “are not unexpected,” said Dr. Paul Schellhammer, Sentara Health System urologist / School of Medicine of Eastern Virginia, Norfolk, who was not involved in the study. But he stressed: “This study begins to define the risks.”
The research does not explain why the use of saturation biopsy increases the risk of prolonged urinary symptoms, said Dr. Tobias Klein, Marienhospital Herne, Germany. But he said that it is possible to influence the neurovascular damage to the network, a set of nerves and blood vessels near the prostate.
In the study, biopsies confirmed cancer in 40 percent of the participants. For Schellhammer, the results are also important for men with this cancer who opt for the “active surveillance” (the doctor does not treat the cancer immediately, but controls its progress). Such surveillance, he said, includes annual biopsies.
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