PA- versus urologist-performed flexible cystoscopy

INTRODUCTION: We aimed to compare patient pain perceptions and bladder cancer detection rates following cystoscopy performed by physician associates/physician assistants (PAs) versus staff urologists (SUs). METHODS: We performed a secondary analysis of our earlier single-center, prospective, double-blind, randomized controlled trial that originally investigated irrigation "bag squeeze" versus standard cystoscopy. In this analysis, 98 men who underwent flexible cystoscopy by either a SU or a PA were included. Patients completed a pain questionnaire following the procedure. RESULTS: The mean pain score for SU-performed cystoscopy was 2.67 compared with 2.62 for PA-performed cystoscopy ( p = .92). A total of 23 cystoscopies (SU-performed, 11 [23%]; PA-performed, 12 [24%]; p > .05) resulted in positive or suspicious findings. Pathologic sampling was performed for 15 (SU-performed, 6; PA-performed, 9), out of which 8 total (SU-performed, 3 [6.25%]; PA-performed 5 [10%]) were positive for urothelial cancer. CONCLUSIONS: PA-performed cystoscopies demonstrate similar outcomes to those performed by physicians in terms of patient-reported pain scores and malignancy detection rates.