This information explains how to care for yourself after your cystoscopy (sis-TOS-koh-pee).
What to expect after your cystoscopy
You may have numbness (loss of feeling) from the local anesthesia used during your cystoscopy. Local anesthesia is medicine that numbs an area of your body during your procedure. This should go away within 3 hours.
You may feel burning when you urinate (pee) for the next 2 to 3 days. Your urine may also look pink. This can happen if there’s a small amount of blood in it.
You may see small pieces of tissue in your urine if you had a fulguration (ful-guh-RAY-shun) during your cystoscopy. The tissue will look like tiny pink pieces of skin.
What to do after your cystoscopy
Drink at least 8 (8-ounce) cups of fluids, such as water, every day for the next few days. The liquids will help flush your bladder. This is important to help lower the amount of bleeding you may have. It also helps prevent infection.
Limit how much you drink after to avoid trips to the bathroom during the night.
You can go back to doing your usual activities after your cystoscopy. You can go back to having sexual activity when there’s no blood in your urine.
If you’re feeling pain, ask your healthcare provider if it’s safe to take medicine, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol). Call your healthcare provider if you keep feeling pain after taking pain medicine.
Read the labels on all the medicine you’re taking. This is very important if you’re taking acetaminophen. Acetaminophen is an ingredient in many prescription and over-the-counter medicines. Over-the-counter medicine is medicine you can buy without a prescription.
Taking too much acetaminophen can harm your liver. Do not take more than one medicine that has acetaminophen without talking with a member of your care team.
Getting your cystoscopy results
Your urine cytology results will be available in 3 to 4 days. This test will tell your healthcare provider if there are cancer cells in your urine. Usually, your healthcare provider will only call you if the test results are abnormal (not normal).
You can see your test results in MyMSK, our patient portal, in about 7 days. You can also call their office to ask for your results.
If you had a biopsy done, the results will be available within 1 week. Your healthcare provider will usually call you with the results. You can also call their office to ask.
When to call your healthcare provider
Call your healthcare provider if you:
- See bright red blood or blood clots in your urine.
- Have pink-colored urine for more than 3 days.
- Feel burning when you urinate that lasts more than 3 days.
- Have pain that doesn’t go away, even after taking pain medicine.
- Have a fever of 100.4 °F (38 °C) or higher.
- Have shaking chills.
- Have lower back pain.
- Cannot urinate.
- Have little or no urine when you urinate.
- Have any questions or concerns about your procedure.
