Evaluation of pain caused by urethrocystoscopy in patients with superficial bladder cancer: a perspective of quality of life.

AIM: The aim of this study is to evaluate patients' tolerance to pain caused by urethrocystoscopy (UCS) in both diagnosis and the period of follow-up in patients with superficial bladder cancer, and to evaluate these results with respect to quality of life.

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

Between March 2003 and October 2004, 66 patients with bladder cancer or hematuria underwent UCS and recorded their overall pain level.

RESULTS

The mean age was 60.4 (range 26-83) years. UCS was done only one time in 22 patients for the diagnosis of etiology of hematuria and was done 4 times in 44 patients every 3 months for bladder cancer follow-up. The mean pain scores on first, second, third, and fourth UCS were 4.3+/-2.2, 4.7+/-2.5, 4.68+/-2.45, and 5.1+/-2.5, respectively. Statistically significant differences were found among mean pain scores of patients on first, third, and forth cystoscopic examinations (p < 0.05). No correlation was found between age and pain scores in this study group (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSION

UCS is a painful surgical procedure and pain tolerance was not observed on repeated UCS. Therefore urologists need to use more effective anesthetic methods to provide better patients' tolerance to pain and quality of life during the endoscopic procedure.