Radical prostatectomy surgical procedure

A radical prostatectomy is major surgery in which the entire prostate gland and seminal vesicles are removed.
A radical prostatectomy is a complicated operation that takes a few hours. After the prostate is removed, the urinary tractis essentially reconstructed. The bladder is brought down into the pelvis, and the bladder neck is stitched to the stump of the urethra at the point where the prostate gland was detached from it. This bridges the gap where the prostate had been and reestablishes the lower urinary tract.
There are two different approaches to a radical prostatectomy, one is retropubic, approaching the prostate from behind and under the pubic bone. The other is perineal, approaching the prostate through the perineum (the space between the scrotum and the anus).
That's not possible during a perineal prostatectomy, so a prostate cancer patient may need two separate procedures several days apart: an abdominal incision to check out his lymph nodes and a perineal incision to remove his prostate.
The recovery is harder, because an abdominal incision is considerably more uncomfortable than a perineal incision.
Recovery may be difficult after a radical prostatectomy. There's considerable pain immediately afterward. You will have bladder spasms and, because your intestine isn't contracting normally at first, you'll have a tube draining your abdomen for a few days. A foley catheter, is inserted through your penis and into your bladder after the operation. When the catheter is removed, you may be some what incontinent for several weeks or even months.
One complication that isn't likely to bother most men with prostate cancer, but should be noted for the record, is that men are permanently sterile after radical prostatectomies. This is because removal of the entire prostate gland, including the prostatic urethra, eliminates any place that the sperm can be deposited. So as part of the operation, the vas deferens are tied off.