Emergency

Orchiectomy with scrotectomy patient journey

Learn about the patient journey and timeline for orchiectomy with scrotectomy

Orchiectomy removes the gonads (testes) and spermatic cord. It can be done with or without scrotectomy (removal of scrotal sac). If you do not want scrotectomy, please see the Trans Care BC Website on orchiectomy for information on how to be referred to a urologist. If you do want to have scrotectomy as part of your procedure, you will need to see a surgeon at GSPBC.  

Scrotectomy involves the excision of the entire scrotal sac including the testes and spermatic cords and a reconstruction of the perineum. 

Learn more about orichectomy with scrotectomy

Pre-surgery steps for scrotectomy

Click on the below steps to learn more

  • Waiting for intake

    Once GSPBC has received your referral package, your GP will be notified, and our clerks will email you a welcome package. 

    The wait time from accepted referral to intake appointment can be 12-16 months. Please note this wait time can vary. During this wait time you can begin to prepare yourself for surgery as much as possible. This can include working on stopping smoking, improving your overall health and wellness, putting money aside, working to find a GP, and many more important pieces of readiness.  

  • Intake and first surgical consultation

    A GSPBC nurse will review your referral package and health history. Depending on this you may either first have a phone call with the nurse or proceed directly to your consultation with the surgeon.  

    During your surgical consultation, the surgeon will help provide more information about your surgery, answer questions, and help determine steps to move towards surgical readiness. If all steps are completed, you are deemed surgically ready and added to a wait list for surgery.

  • Preparing for surgery

    When a surgical date is offered to you, you will receive further education on your surgery.  

    Scrotectomy is day surgery, meaning you will not be spending the night in the hospital unless medically necessary. 

    Surgery Wait Times 

    Once you are added to the surgical waitlist, a GSP nurse will connect with you to discuss wait times. Please note that the wait time for surgery fluctuates constantly. This is mainly due to the amount of operating room (OR) time our program receives. GSPBC receives OR time in roughly 3 month intervals and the amount of OR time we’re given each month often changes – making it very difficult to predict wait times. We estimate the average wait from consent to surgery to be 10-12 months, but this is highly variable. 

  • Surgery

    Your surgery may be at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) or UBC Hospital (UBCH) – depending on availability. 

    You can expect to be discharged from the hospital following surgery as long as you are medically stable. 

  • Post-surgery

    You can expect to have an appointment one week after your surgery and a follow-up with the surgeon 6-10 weeks after surgery.  

    Things to know: 

    • Expect swelling and bruising, some minor bleeding is normal
    • Expect fatigue, walking will be slow initially, limited sitting 

    Gradual return to activity/work around 2 weeks (depending on work and healing) 

    After the first week, your follow-up will be tailored to your specific healing. You can expect to come back to the clinic at 6 months for an in-person check-in with the surgeon. You may have additional appointments between these as needed. 

    Typically, at the 6-month mark patients are discharged into the care of their family doctor or community.