Yes, but it’s usually only a matter of time before urination returns to normal. Bladder capacity is usually reduced somewhat by the surgery, but the main cause is that, after surgery; the bladder wall is swollen and thickened and irritable. Normally, the bladder wall is thin and elastic and maintains a low pressure until it has stored 8 to 10 ounces of urine. After surgery, the swollen bladder does not store much urine at a low pressure. As soon as it starts to fill, the pressure goes up and you feel the need to urinate. In the great majority of cases, this situation gradually improves with time, but it can take more than a year in some cases. Some patients are left with a smaller capacity bladder because scar tissue limits the elasticity of the bladder. Medications that sometimes help are Ditropan and Detral, but since these medicines work by “quieting” the bladder’s irritability, they do not solve the underlying problem: It takes time for swelling to subside and for scar tissue to stretch. Avoiding diuretics such as alcohol and caffeine diminishes the symptoms. The situation is worse at night, because after surgery, some fluid that is retained in the lower half of the body during the day gets redistributed at night and is excreted by the kidneys at night. This phenomenon of making more urine at night is called “nocturnal polyuria.”