Postoperative haemorrhage following transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) and photoselective vaporisation of the prostate (PVP)

An update on transurethral surgery for benign prostatic obstruction

Clinical benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is one of the most common cause of lower urinary tract symptoms and transurethral resection of prostate (TURP) has been the gold standard technique for surgical treatment of benign prostate obstruction (BPO) over the last 2 decades. Although monopolar TURP is considered a safe and effective option for surgical management of BPO, there are some disadvantages, namely bleeding, transurethral resection syndrome, incompleteness of treatment. This review aims to highlight these problems, and describe the advances in technology and techniques that have evolved to minimise such complications. With the advent of lasers and bipolar technology, as well as enucleative techniques to remove the prostatic adenoma/adenomata, the problems of bleeding, transurethral resection syndrome and incomplete treatment are significantly minimised. Monopolar TURP will likely be replaced by such technology and techniques in the near future such that transurethral surgery of the prostate remain a safe and effective option in alleviating the harmful effects of BPO.

Population based comparative effectiveness of transurethral resection of the prostate and laser therapy for benign prostatic hyperplasia

PURPOSE

As the American population ages, benign prostatic hyperplasia and its associated lower urinary tract symptoms have become increasingly important causes of chronic morbidity. We assessed the comparative effectiveness of 2 common forms of surgical therapy, transurethral prostate resection and laser therapy, for benign prostatic hyperplasia.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Using patient level discharge data and revisit files from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality we evaluated a cohort of patients who underwent transurethral prostate resection or laser therapy for benign prostatic hyperplasia in 2005 in California. Short-term outcomes, including in hospital complications, length of stay, 30-day rehospitalization, 30-day repeat surgery and 30-day emergency room visits, were compared between the therapies by regression analysis. Long-term re-treatment, defined as the absence of secondary procedures for benign prostatic hyperplasia or complications of therapy, was assessed by survival analysis. Analysis was adjusted for medical comorbidity, race, age and insurance status.

RESULTS

Data on 11,645 hospital discharges showed that mean length of stay was shorter for laser therapy than for transurethral prostate resection (0.70 vs 2.03 days, p<0.0001). The 30-day repeat visit occurred in 16% of laser and 17.7% of resection cases (p=0.0338). The 4-year re-treatment rate was 8.3% for resection and 12.8% for laser therapy (p<0.0001). After adjustment patients with resection were 37% less likely to require repeat therapy than those with laser therapy (HR 0.64, p<0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS

Laser procedures and transurethral prostate resection provide effective management of benign prostatic hyperplasia/lower urinary tract symptoms. Laser procedures are associated with less need for hospitalization than transurethral prostate resection but appear to involve a trade-off in long-term efficacy.