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Common Questions: The Patient

Will I need nursing care after prostate surgery with LRP?


Patients need nursing care after prostate surgery, at least for the first 12-24 hours.

Patients leave the operating room with an intravenous line, a urethral catheter, and a small rubber drain in their lower abdomen. After recovering from anesthesia, almost all patients start to drink clear liquids. In the first few hours, depending on strength and motivation, most patients get out of bed and stretch their legs. Most have walked around the nurse's station by nightfall and most leave the hospital the morning after their laparoscopic prostate cancer surgery.

Patients are discharged with a catheter connected to a leg bag, which fits under their pants. Loose clothing and shoes that don't require tying seem easier to handle in the first few hours and days. In the photo, taken the morning after laparoscopic radical prostatectomy, a patient prepares for discharge and is seen wearing baggy pants that cover his catheter and leg bag.

nursing care after prostate surgery