Prostatectomy ProcedureDescription, Latest Information and Doctors
Learn About Prostatectomy
Simple prostate removal is a procedure to remove the inside part of the prostate gland to treat an enlarged prostate. It is done through a surgical cut in your lower belly.
Prostatectomy - simple; Suprapubic prostatectomy; Retropubic simple prostatectomy; Open prostatectomy; Millen procedure
You will be given general anesthesia (asleep, pain-free) or spinal anesthesia (sedated, awake, pain-free). The procedure takes about 2 to 4 hours.
Your surgeon will make a surgical cut in your lower belly. The cut will go from below the belly button to just above the pubic bone or it may be made horizontally just above the pubic bone. The bladder is opened and the prostate gland is removed through this cut.
The surgeon removes only the inner part of the prostate gland. The outer part is left behind. The process is similar to scooping out the inside of an orange and leaving the peel intact. After removing part of your prostate, the surgeon will close the outer shell of the bladder with stitches. A drain may be left in your belly to help remove extra fluids after surgery. A catheter may also be left in the bladder. This catheter may be in the urethra or in the lower abdomen or you may have both. These catheters allow the bladder to rest and heal.
An enlarged prostate can cause problems with urinating. This can lead to urinary tract infections. Taking out part of the prostate gland can often make these symptoms better. Before you have surgery, your health care provider may tell you some changes you can make in how you eat or drink. You may also be asked to try taking medicine to treat your symptoms.
Prostate removal can be done in many different ways. The kind of procedure you will have depends on the size of the prostate and what caused your prostate to grow. Open simple prostatectomy is often used when the prostate is too large for less invasive surgery. However, this method does not treat prostate cancer. Radical prostatectomy may be needed for cancer.
Prostate removal may be recommended if you have:
- Problems emptying your bladder (urinary retention)
- Frequent urinary tract infections
- Frequent bleeding from the prostate
- Bladder stones with prostate enlargement
- Very slow urination
- Damage to the kidneys
Your prostate may also need to be removed if taking medicine and changing your diet do not help your symptoms.
Risks for any surgery are:
- Blood clots in the legs that may travel to the lungs
- Blood loss
- Breathing problems
- Heart attack or stroke during surgery
- Infection, including in the surgical wound, lungs (pneumonia), or bladder or kidney
- Reactions to medicines
Other risks are:
- Damage to internal organs
- Erection problems (impotence)
- Loss of the ability for sperm to leave the body resulting in infertility
- Passing semen back up into the bladder instead of out through the urethra (retrograde ejaculation)
- Problems with urine control (incontinence)
- Tightening of the urinary outlet from scar tissue (urethral stricture)
- Urinary incontinence
You will have many visits with your provider and tests before your surgery:
- Complete physical exam
- Visits with your provider to make sure medical problems (such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart or lung diseases) are being treated well
- Additional testing to confirm bladder function
If you are a smoker, you should stop several weeks before the surgery. Your provider can help.
Always tell your provider what medicines, vitamins, and other supplements you are taking, even ones you bought without a prescription.
During the one to two weeks before your surgery:
- You may need to stop taking aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn), vitamin E, clopidogrel (Plavix), warfarin, and any other medicines like these.
- Ask your surgeon which medicines you should still take on the day of your surgery.
- You may take a special laxative the day before your surgery. This will clean out the contents of your colon.
- You may be asked to stop certain weight loss medicines (GLP-1 agonists) a few weeks before. When people use these medicines the movement of food though the stomach is slowed so even if they fast after midnight there still may be food in the stomach.
- Let your surgeon know about any illness you may have before your surgery. This includes COVID-19, a cold, flu, fever, herpes breakout, or other illness. If you do get sick, your surgery may need to be postponed.
On the day of your surgery:
- DO NOT eat or drink anything after midnight the night before your surgery.
- Take the medicines you were told to take with a small sip of water.
- You will be told when to arrive at the hospital.
You will stay in the hospital for about 2 to 4 days.
- You will need to stay in bed until the next morning.
- After you are allowed to get up you will be asked to move around as much as possible.
- Your nurse will help you change positions in bed.
- You will also learn exercises to keep blood flowing, and coughing/deep breathing techniques.
- You should do these exercises every 3 to 4 hours.
- You may need to wear special compression stockings and use a breathing device to keep your lungs clear.
You will leave surgery with a Foley catheter in your bladder. Some men have a suprapubic catheter in their belly wall to help drain the bladder.
Many men recover in about 6 weeks. You can expect to be able to urinate as usual without leaking urine.
Cleveland Clinic Main Campus
Jihad Kaouk is a Urologist practicing medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. He has been practicing medicine for over 37 years. Dr. Kaouk is rated as an Elite provider by MediFind in Prostatectomy. He is also highly rated in 31 other conditions, according to our data. His clinical expertise encompasses Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC), Prostate Cancer, Horseshoe Kidney, Nephrectomy, and Prostatectomy. Dr. Kaouk is board certified in American Board Of Urology, 2013.
Edward Schaeffer is an Oncologist practicing medicine in Chicago, Illinois. He has been practicing medicine for over 25 years. Dr. Schaeffer is rated as an Elite provider by MediFind in Prostatectomy. He is also highly rated in 5 other conditions, according to our data. His clinical expertise encompasses Prostate Cancer, Familial Prostate Cancer, Bladder Cancer, Prostatectomy, and Ureteroscopy. Dr. Schaeffer is board certified in American Board Of Urology - Urology (Certified).
Johns Hopkins Outpatient Center
Dr. Misop Han is David Hall McConnell Professor of Urology and Oncology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Dr. Han is a urologist whose main clinical focus is in urological oncology with a special emphasis on prostate and kidney cancers. He specializes in robotic nerve-sparing prostatectomy and robotic nephrectomy. Dr. Han received his undergraduate and medical degrees at Johns Hopkins. After an internship in surgery and residency in urology, also at Johns Hopkins, he worked as faculty at Northwestern University and Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. In 2006, he joined the Johns Hopkins faculty. His research interests include the outcome of radical prostatectomy, medical robotics and prediction modeling (what happens to men following surgery for prostate cancer). He has published extensively in these subjects and has received international and national recognition for his research. He is actively involved in several clinical research projects with the database of more than 20,000 men who received surgery for prostate cancer at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is a member of the American Urological Association and the American Medical Association. Dr. Han is rated as an Elite provider by MediFind in Prostatectomy. He is also highly rated in 14 other conditions, according to our data. His clinical expertise encompasses Prostate Cancer, Ureterocele, Familial Prostate Cancer, Prostatectomy, and Nephrectomy. Dr. Han is board certified in American Board Of Urology.
Summary: The purpose of this study is to see whether combining 2141-V11 with various standard treatments is an effective treatment approach for prostate cancer. 2141-V11 works by activating the immune system to find and kill cancer cells. Researchers will look at whether this treatment approach is able to completely get rid of cancer in participants, and they will check for the presence of minimal residual...
Summary: The overarching goal is to prospectively recruit men considering active surveillance for treatment in the MAGIC (MRI And GPS Informing Choices for prostate cancer treatment) Cohort to provide meaningful data on active surveillance in Blacks and in men served in safety net hospitals. Recent studies highlight significant promise for multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging of the prostate (MRI) a...
Published Date: April 29, 2025
Published By: Sovrin M. Shah, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Urology, The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.
Benjamin TGR, Kreshover JE. Simple prostatectomy. In: Bishoff JT, Kavoussi LR, Kayoussi N, Bishoff T, eds. Atlas of Laparoscopic and Robotic Urologic Surgery. 4th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2023:chap 30.
Richstone L. Simple prostatectomy—open, laparoscopic, and robotic approaches. In: Dmochowski RR, Kavoussi LR, Peters CA, et al, eds. Campbell-Walsh-Wein Urology. 13th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2026:chap 152.
Strand DW, Roehrborn CG. Benign prostatic hyperplasia: etiology, pathophysiology, epidemiology, and natural history. In: Dmochowski RR, Kavoussi LR, Peters CA, et al, eds. Campbell-Walsh-Wein Urology. 13th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2026:chap 149.