Has anyone ever noticed suture material in the urine.

Posted by robertmizek @robertmizek, May 5 10:05pm

OK, I know this sounds weird and honestly, I’m a little embarrassed to ask, but I have to know. Has anyone else passed bits of suture material in their urine? I had RP in mid January 2024 and one day two months post surgery, I felt a sudden stinging feeling while urinating and something hit the rim of the toilet. I looked and it was an odd shaped small piece of plastic. I put on some gloves, grabbed the piece, rinsed it, took a photo of it and sent it to my surgeon. He confirmed that it was a dissolvable suture clamp that worked its way through the anastomosis into the urethra and came out with my urine. He said it’s pretty rare, but it does happen and not a big deal. He’s an outstanding surgeon so I have full confidence in what he told me. He also told me that I shouldn’t be surprised if I see other little bits of stuff work its way through. Well, sure enough he’s right, and despite the fact that it’s now over three months since surgery I’ve continued to see short pieces of dissolvable suture material now and then. It stings when I pass them which causes me to look.

Has anyone else experienced this and aside from a little stinging did it cause them any problems?

Good luck to all of who read this on their journey with PCa.

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farmanerd | @farmanerd | May 6 8:52am

Checked my chart for the date: on June 4 2019, I had a cystoscopy because I was getting some blood in my urine. My URO saw a bit of a suture protruding into my urethra and told me that sometimes, for some patients, that the absorbable sutures at their anastomosis don't all get absorbed and may slough off into their urethra. Can result in some pain or minor hematuria. My RARP was on December 4, 2018 -- six months prior to this cystoscopy. Besides the occasional slight blood in my urine, no other effects that I can recall and only a couple of incidents that summer.

edo | @edo | May 6 1:04pm

I, too, passed a piece of suture a few weeks after my surgery. Actually, it got stuck at the tip of my penis. I extracted it with forceps and took a picture of it. I could tell it was something manufactured and not biological. Sent it to my urologist who had no idea what it was. I also sent it to my surgeon who said yes, it was part of one of his sutures and not something that is normally seen by the patient. He told me it was nothing to worry about.

Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | May 16 2:35pm

@robertmizek, I'm glad you asked. Connect should be a place where you can ask questions that you might not be able to ask anywhere else. Did you see the helpful replies from @edo and @farmanerd? Good to know you're not the only one, right?