Prostatectomy Side Effects and Warnings

Possible Complications

If you are planning to have a prostatectomy, your doctor will review a list of possible complications, which may include:

• Bleeding
• Infection
• Inability to control urinary stream ( incontinence )
• Inability to get an erection ( impotence ) and other sexual difficulties
• Blood clots in the legs or lungs
• Sterility
• Injury to the rectum or other nearby structures

Factors that may increase the risk of complications include:

• Obesity
• Chronic or recent illness
• Lung, kidney, liver, or heart disease
• Smoking , alcohol abuse , or drug use
• Use of certain prescription medicines
• Diabetes

Call Your Doctor

After you leave the hospital, call your doctor if any of the following occurs:

• Signs of infection, including fever and chills
• Redness, swelling, increasing pain, excessive bleeding, or any discharge from the incision site
• Nausea and/or vomiting that you cannot control with the medications you were given after surgery, or which persist for more than two days after discharge from the hospital
• Pain that you cannot control with the medicines you have been given
• Pain, burning, urgency or frequency of urination, or persistent bleeding in the urine
• Poor drainage from Foley catheter
• Abdominal swelling or pain
• Cough , shortness of breath, or chest pain,
• Headaches, muscle aches, dizziness, or general ill feeling
• Constipation
• New, unexplained symptoms
• Drainage from your incision

In case of an emergency, call 911.