Immediate versus delayed outpatient flexible cystoscopy: final report of a randomized study

Area of Science:

• Urology
• Pain Management
• Outpatient Procedures

Background:

• Flexible cystoscopy is a common urological procedure.
• Pain and discomfort are significant concerns for patients undergoing cystoscopy.
• Topical local anesthesia is routinely used to mitigate discomfort.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare patient-reported discomfort during immediate versus delayed outpatient flexible cystoscopy.
• To evaluate the impact of procedure timing on pain perception after topical anesthesia.

Main Methods:

• A randomized trial involving 288 men with superficial bladder tumors.
• Patients received intraurethral lidocaine jelly for topical local anesthesia.
• Pain was assessed using a 4-point scale and a 10-point visual analogue scale (VAS).

Main Results:

• No statistically significant difference in mean pain scores (4-point scale) between immediate (1.6) and delayed (1.5) cystoscopy (p=0.7).
• No statistically significant difference in mean visual analogue scale (VAS) scores between immediate (1.8) and delayed (1.7) cystoscopy (p=0.5).
• Both immediate and delayed procedures demonstrated low average pain scores.

Conclusions:

• The timing of outpatient flexible cystoscopy does not influence pain perception when using topical local anesthesia.
• Clinicians can consider procedural timing based on other factors without significant impact on patient discomfort.