Pain and anxiety assessment during cystourethroscopy in males using voiding instruction: A prospective, randomized controlled study

INTRODUCTION: Office cystourethroscopy is one of the common and most frequent urological procedures. Pain and anxiety during the procedure might lead to noncompliance and incomplete cystoscopic examination. Negotiating cystoscope through external sphincter is the most painful and uncomfortable distressing part of cystoscopy. To overcome this, manual compression of irrigation bag during cystoscopy has been used and found to be helpful. Numerous other methods were also studied. Despite these, cystoscopy is still painful and causes anxiety in patients. External sphincter gets relaxed naturally during the act of micturition. Based on this principle, pain and anxiety were studied with voiding instruction during cystourethroscopy. OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of voiding instruction on anxiety and pain during cystourethroscopy using the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) and visual analogue scale (VAS), in a well-matched Eastern Indian male patient population in a prospective, randomized pattern. METHODS: A total of 100 male patients were recruited from those who underwent cystourethroscopy examination in SSKM Hospital and were prospectively randomized into two groups: cystoscopy with or without voiding instruction. Pre- and postprocedure HAM-A score and postprocedure VAS score were recorded. RESULTS: The mean postprocedural pain (VAS) score between voiding instructed and noninstructed groups reached statistical significance: 3.06 ± 1.98 (Range, 2–5) and 5.16 ± 2.86 (Range, 4–8), respectively (P < 0.001). Preprocedure HAM-A score was similar between both groups. Postprocedure median HAM-A score was statistically significantly lower (mean 17.86 ± 2.8 vs. 19.76 ± 3.12; P < 0.001) in voiding instructed group. CONCLUSION: Pain and anxiety level during cystourethroscopy examination in males can be significantly reduced when the patient is instructed to void during cystourethroscopy examination.