Endoscopy of the urinary bladder via the urethra is named cystoscopy. Diagnostic cystoscopy is habitually carried out with local anaesthesia. General anaesthesia is occasionally used for operative cystoscopic procedures.
When a patient has a urinary difficulty, the doctor may use a cystoscope to see the inside of the bladder and urethra.
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The urethra is the tube that carries urine from the bladder to the outside of the body. The cystoscope has lenses similar to a telescope or microscope. These lenses let the health professional focus on the internal surfaces of the urinary tract. Various cystoscopes use optical fibres (flexible glass fibres) that transmit an reflection from the tip of the device in the direction of a viewing piece at the other extremity. Cystoscopes vary from between the thickness of a pencil, up to approximately 9mm and contain a luminosity at the tip. A lot of cystoscopes contain extra tubes to guide other instruments for surgical treatments to care for urinary problems.
There are 2 most important types of cystoscopy - flexible and rigid - differing in the flexibility of the cystoscope. Flexible cystoscopy is accepted out using local anaesthesia on both sexes. Usually, lidocaine/xylocaine gel (such as the product name Instillagel) is used as an anaesthetic, instilled inside the urethra. Rigid cystoscopy can be executed under the same conditions, but is usually accepted out under general anaesthesia, mostly in male subjects, due to the pain created by the probe.
A medical doctor can suggest cystoscopy for some of the following situation:
* Recurrent urinary tract infections
* Blood appearing in the urine (hematuria)
* Failure of bladder control (incontinence) or overactive bladder
* Strange cells found in urine sample
* Require for a bladder catheter
* Painful urination, chronic pelvic pain, or interstitial cystitis
* Urinary blockage such as from prostate enlargement, stricture, or narrowing of the urinary tract
* Stone inside the urinary tract
* Atypical growth, polyp, tumor, or cancer
