Post TURP surgery bladder retention issues

Posted by mike4225 @mike4225, Feb 6 8:25pm

I am 75 and had TURP surgery for bladder retention on January 16 2025. I had retention and BPH a long time so my bladder was distended. I can only urinate small amounts 1/8 of an ounce or less. I am no longer retaining urine. Basically I have to go into a urinal or diaper every couple of minutes. My penis and scrotum are sore. I did have some more scar tissue come out the last few days. Just touching my penis causes urgency so obviously everything is very sensitive down there. I don't understand what is causing the urgency so often. When I'm out I just urinate small amounts into a diaper but the pain and soreness are constant 24/7.

I was hoping to see some light at the end of tunnel. Such as my bladder able to retain some urine so the urgency incidents would decrease so I could start urinating like a normal person. I was incontinent 2 years prior to surgery. It was horrible. I would fill up a diaper with almost 45 ounces while I slept. Have to replace the diaper several times during the day. Now If I walk around the bathroom without a diaper I might randomly urinate with no urgency a small amount on the floor.

I know it takes a long time to heal from TURP surgery but without seeing any improvement my future looks very bleak. And please don't suggest to get another Cystoscope. It will only set back the recovery process back to the beginning and I will have to deal with pain for months more. There isn't a blockage because the sonogram showed very little urine in my bladder.

When I asked my Urologist if any other patients ever went through what is happening to me he didn't give me much of answer.

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elcorbs | @elcorbs | Feb 9 10:18am

I am getting ready to go through TURP on 3 March. I had HOLEP surgery 3 Dec 2024 and still have incontinence and recurring UTI’s. Another urologist did a cystoscopy 3 weeks ago and recommended my urologist do TURP to correct an issue with the bladder neck which he says causes the UTI’s and my inability to flow freely. I still dribble a lot. Don’t have the flow I was promised would happen. I am not looking forward to this surgery but must get it corrected. I have had 10 UTI’s since the HOLEP!

Justin McClanahan, Moderator | @JustinMcClanahan | Feb 23 8:42am

Hello @mike4225, In addition to @elcorbs, I'd like to also invite @dlkreps, @brucekn and @pamperme to this discussion to share their experiences with the TURP procedure and the recovery process.

@mike4225, how are you currently doing? Have you seen any improvement with your symptoms since you first posted? You mentioned your urologist didn't have other great examples to pull from, was there any additional discussion about timeline or possible reasons your progression of recovery is not as fast as you had hoped for?

brucekn | @brucekn | Feb 23 8:03pm

Responding to Justin’s invite. I’m Brucekn.

My urological history is quite checkered. Stating with one undescended testicle (still is), a hydrocele in the descended testicle that was removed and which caused that testicle to become smaller, several prostate biopsies responding to high PSA levels. But I also had TURP procedures too, which occurred after the above:

My regular urologist left the practice, so I went looking for another. At my first meeting with the new guy, I was measured for urine retention, something I had never had dome before. That triggered the first TURP, after which I had no ejaculation, as I was told to expect. Still had a good erection, and orgasms were still good too.

After only two months, I started getting an urgent and strong desire to urinate. It got worse, to the point that a 45 minute bus ride was too long for my comfort, I even thought of peeing my pants. back to the new urologist, and a cystoscope, he indicated that the TURP had failed, as the prostate had ‘collapsed on itself”. he for me in for a new TURP, and this time muttered that he would make darned sure that he did it right this time. No problem with peeing afterward, but now erectile dysfunction and a lack of the usual pleasure at orgasm ( I could get partial erections, and he gave me some Viagra to take home). Luckily, my usual medical center got a new urologist, so I ditched this guy who had given me the TURPs.

My new (third and still current) urologist has since done a UroLift procedure on me, and after that didn’t work, a few years later I had an aquablation, which seems to have cured the urine retention. Erections still are weak, and the orgasms are over with very quick.