Prostate biopsy need not be the painful ordeal that many men anticipate, according to findings presented at the annual meeting of North Central Section of the American Urological Association in San Diego
Typically, local anesthetic has been injected between the prostate base and seminal vesicle where the neurovascular bundle lies.
Age, prostate volume, body mass index, inflammation and presence of cancer were not predictive of the level of pain experienced.
However, injecting lidocaine into prostate apex and the rectal wall was associated with significantly less pain during the procedure compared with intraprostatic injection or injection between the prostatic base and the seminal vesicle.