We are always devoted to providing answers to your health questions.
If you are reading this then you are probably looking to get answers to the question “Can prostate cancer cause infertility in men?”
You at the right place,read through we have the best answers and options you might want to consider before going into prostate surgery.
We have taken time to list and explain the various other complications aside infertility.
Surgery is an effective way of treating prostate cancer,but most patients are always afraid to undergo surgery for fear of complications that might arise from the surgery.
Most men eventually recover from fertility issues caused by prostatectomy although factors like age of the patient affects the rate of this recovery.
One of the standard surgical therapies for men with prostate cancer is Radical laparascopic prostatectomy.
This procedure involves the removal of the entire prostate gland along with surrounding tissues.
It is very complex and requires a high level of precision and accuracy for it to be successful hence patients always have the fear that complications will always arise.
It is good to understand that a lot of factors determine the level of complications that my arise.
What increases the risk of complications from prostate cancer surgery?
- The risks of complications can be increased if prior surgery for unrelated reasons was done in the area or if there is need for extensive surgery to be done to remove the cancer.
- The compliction rate goes up when prostatectomy is done on patients who have failed other cancer treatments.
Prostate cancer causes infertility
Radical prostatectomy cuts through the vas deferens (This are pathways between the testicle,where sperm is made).
It also cuts through the urethra (A pathway through which sperms leaves the body)
What happens is that your testicles still makes sperm but the produced sperms cannot leave the body as part of ejaculate.
This simply means that that a man who had prostate cancer can no longer father a child.
This is not always a major concern as most prostate cancer patients are always old(65 yrs and above) but if it’s a concern for you ,you might want to bank your sperm before the surgery.
Change in the length of the penis
This is also a possible side effect of prostate surgery.
The penis length tends to decerase after surgery caused probably by the cutting of the urethra during surgery.
Inguinal hernia
Prostate surgery increases a man’s chances of developing an inguinal hernia in the future.
Erectile Dysfunction(Impotence)
This means that after prostate surgery,the patient cannot have an erection sufficient for sexual penetration.
The ability of the patient to have erection after penetration depends on the following factors;
- The age of the patients,this is because older patients who have been weak with erecting before the surgery will find it very difficult to have erecting after the surgery while for younger patients it wI’ll be easier to get their penile erectile function back.
- The patients ability to get erection before the surgery.
- Whether the nerves that controls erection were cut or not during the surgery.
In all patients needs to speak to their surgeons before their surgery to ascertain their level of risks before embarking on prostate surgery.
It’s good to also understand that surgery is an effective and standard means of treating prostate cancer and it’s one of the best choice.
Prostate cancer surgery can cause infertility and impotence in men,but we have provided the best options in our article.
If you are not old and still want to father children your best option will be to bank your sperm before the sugery.