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Surgical Options For Enlarged Prostate

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Questions To Ask Before Surgery

TURP | LASER Prostatectomy | Enlarged Prostate (BPH) Surgical Treatment Options

As you think over the options for surgery, ask your doctor these questions:

  • Is there a good chance my condition will get better?
  • How much will it improve?
  • What are the chances of side effects from a treatment?
  • How long will the effects last?
  • Will I need to have this treatment repeated?

With newer technologies, doctors can do some minimally invasive procedures with tiny cuts or use tube-style instruments that they insert into you. These procedures may not treat the symptoms to the same degree or durability as more invasive surgical options, they do have faster recoveries, less pain afterward and have reduced risks.

Other times, the traditional and more invasive surgery may be needed. It all depends on your case and what you and your doctor decide is best for you.

Doctors can choose from these minimally invasive procedures, endoscopic, or open surgeries to treat moderate to severe symptoms. These procedures are also used if tests show that your ability to pee is seriously affected.

Scott Got The Inspiration From A Groundbreaking Prostate Study Published In The Oxford University Journal: Journals Of Gerontology: Medical Sciences

The study researched a tribe in the Bolivian Amazon named Tsimane Amerindians.

And what this study revealed changed everything.

You see, almost nobody in this tribe had an enlarged prostate. Even the oldest men.

But what this Oxford study failed to do was to identify WHY this tribe does not develop enlarged prostates.

And the quest for this WHY set Scott out on a mission.

So, Scott did what Scott does. He investigated things for himself.

He jumped on a plane down to the Bolivian jungles.

And began to study this and other tribes that dont suffer enlarged prostates.

And thats where he discovered

What Is The Outlook For Men Who Have Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Surgery

Benign prostatic hyperplasia surgery has a very high success rate. However, for the best results from treatment, you should seek medical help at the earliest signs of a problem. Also, talk with a doctor if you are experiencing symptoms of BPH after surgery.

There is no evidence that BPH increases the risk of developing prostate cancer. However, the symptoms of BPH and prostate cancer are similar. The American Urological Association and the American Cancer Society recommend annual prostate screenings for men ages 55 to 69. Men at high risk such as African-American men and men with a family history of prostate cancer should begin screening at age 40.

Recommended Reading: How To Check Prostate Health

That Printout Was All I Needed To:

  • Understand exactly why I had an enlarged prostate.
  • Know which changes would heal my enlarged prostate.
  • Walk step by step through the action plan to shrink my prostate to a healthy level within weeks.

The action plan pinpointed, day by day, what to eat that day and what to avoid.

It identified exactly the nutrition needed in each stage of the healing process and what could harm the prostate on that specific day.

Because some things, for example, can be harmful to the prostate in day one, even if theyre okay on day 10.

Whats more, this all felt easy peasy.

Large Prostate With Few Symptoms

Latest and Painless Surgery for Enlarged Prostate with Hypho Laser

Patients with very enlarged prostates may have few symptoms or mild symptoms. Doctors verify that there are no problems with kidney or bladder function. If not, they know that the enlarged prostate is not harming the body. In this case, doctors may recommend just watching the prostate or doing non-surgical treatments. Options include changing certain eating and drinking habits and urinating less often. Patients can take medications that relax the prostate, such as tamsulosin, or shrink the prostate, such as finasteride or dutasteride. Patients also may try supplements like saw palmetto to help their symptoms.

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Nonsurgical Treatments For Bph

A number of medications can be prescribed to relieve symptoms of BPH. However, these medications may cause sexual side effects, such as ejaculation problems and erectile dysfunction. For some men, this may not be a major issue, but for others, preserving their sexual function is a high priority.

Other nonsurgical therapies include transurethral microwave thermotherapy and water-induced thermotherapy. Both use heat to destroy prostate tissue and reduce or resolve urinary symptoms. For some men, mild cases of BPH may be treated with lifestyle changes, including avoiding or limiting fluids at night and special exercises that can help improve bladder control.

If medications and/or thermotherapies are unsuccessful, or if the patient is unable or unwilling to tolerate the side effects of medication, surgery may be recommended.

These Receptors Are The Key To Reversing An Enlarged Prostate

Lets call them prostate receptors.

If these prostate receptors are working well, it doesnt matter how high your testosterone level is. These receptors will only let in what the prostate needs.

Just like we only give the kids a bit of candy no matter how full the pantry is.

And just to be clear, everyone has enough testosterone to balloon their prostate, even men with low testosterone levels.

Also Check: Will A Blood Test Show Prostate Cancer

But I Think Youre Different

Youre more like me.

I dont think youd have listened to me for so long if you were the kind of person who wants to default to irresponsible infancy.

Not since you know all the facts now.

Like me, I believe you are willing to make a small effort to improve your prostate health.

I believe you want to enjoy

  • Whole-night sleep without toilet interruptions.
  • Breaks from worries about the nearest toilet, the next break, or what people will think when youre taking so long.
  • Peace of mind that all prostate issues are gone and that theyre not going to escalate to even more serious health conditions.

and whatever other joy your enlarged prostate is robbing you of.

Scotts action steps truly do not require much effort or sacrifice.

Especially compared to the horrendous hell of having an enlarged prostate.

Because right now, youre faced with

Still Most Popular Amongst Urologists

Aquablation: Surgical Robot Treats Enlarged Prostate | NBC4 Washington

There have been a number of technological advances in surgery for BPH, but the urologists responding to this survey reported using open prostatectomy and TURP .

As part of the survey, it was found that higher volume surgeons were more likely to perform high-tech procedures, such as diode laser vaporization of the prostate, holmium laser enucleation of the prostate , thalium laser ablation and holmium laser ablation of the prostate .

Even though there have been many advancements in the field of surgical options for BPH, most urologists still perform open prostatectomy and TURP. However, laser therapies are emerging and men who are considering BPH surgery should ask their healthcare provider which options are available to them.

It should be noted that while surgery is but one of the routes that men with BPH could opt for. There are plenty of other options to deal with enlarged prostate the natural ways, either through supplements or lifestyle changes.

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How Effective Is Pae

PAE is a new and promising procedure. In a study published in 2016, 630 patients underwent a prostate artery embolization procedure. The study found that the procedure had a positive effect on urinary symptoms as well as overall quality of life. This positive effect lasted 1-3 years in 82% of the patients and lasted 3-7 years in 76% of the patients. Additionally, there was no urinary incontinence or sexual dysfunction reported.

With the high success rate of PAE, men ineligible for surgery are able improve their quality of life by eliminating or reducing uncomfortable BPH symptoms. Be sure to speak to your urologist to help determine the best approach for you.

Side Effects Of Prostate Surgery

The major possible side effects of radical prostatectomy are urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction . These side effects can also occur with other forms of prostate cancer treatment.

Urinary incontinence: You may not be able to control your urine or you may have leakage or dribbling. Being incontinent can affect you not only physically but emotionally and socially as well. These are the major types of incontinence:

  • Men with stress incontinence might leak urine when they cough, laugh, sneeze, or exercise. Stress incontinence is the most common type after prostate surgery. It’s usually caused by problems with the valve that keeps urine in the bladder . Prostate cancer treatments can damage this valve or the nerves that keep the valve working.
  • Men with overflow incontinence have trouble emptying their bladder. They take a long time to urinate and have a dribbling stream with little force. Overflow incontinence is usually caused by blockage or narrowing of the bladder outlet by scar tissue.
  • Men with urge incontinencehave a sudden need to urinate. This happens when the bladder becomes too sensitive to stretching as it fills with urine.
  • Rarely after surgery, men lose all ability to control their urine. This is called continuous incontinence.

After surgery for prostate cancer, normal bladder control usually returns within several weeks or months. This recovery usually occurs slowly over time.

There are several options for treating erectile dysfunction:

Also Check: Is Stage 3 Prostate Cancer Curable

Patient And Public Involvement

This research was done without patient involvement. Patients were not invited to comment on the study design and were not consulted to develop patient relevant outcomes or interpret the results. Patients were not invited to contribute to the writing or editing of this document for readability or accuracy. Results of studies are to be disseminated to patients and patient groups through social media.

Figure : Greenlight Procedure

What are my surgical options for an enlarged prostate?

When prostate enlargement obstructs the flow of urine , a relatively new laser technique may be used instead of TURP. In a photoselective vaporization of the prostate , or GreenLight, procedure, the surgeon threads a thin tube known as a cystoscope into the urethra and up into the enlarged prostate. The surgeon then threads a fiber-optic device through the cystoscope to generate high-intensity pulses of light, which simultaneously vaporize the obstructing tissue and cauterize it to reduce bleeding . After surgery, a catheter may be inserted temporarily to allow urine to flow while the area is healing. This technique creates an enlarged, uniform channel for urine to flow through .

When is it time to consider surgery for BPH?

MORGENTALER: For the most part, it really comes down to patient choice about how to handle the symptoms of BPH. The only situations that are major indications for treatment include acute urinary retention, bladder stones, maybe recurrent urinary tract infections, or a high post-void residual.

SANDA: Surgery is also worth considering if a man isnt responding well enough to any of the drugs used to treat BPH, or if he cant tolerate the side effects. In the past, patients really had only two options when it came to surgery for BPH. If the patient had a reasonable-sized prostate, he could undergo a TURP, and if he had an especially large prostate, then perhaps an open prostatectomy. But today a man considering surgery has many more options .

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Treatment Options For Bph

SLUCare urologist Dr. Lindsay Lombardo is one of the first specialists in the St. Louis region to offer Rezum, a new, FDA-approved procedure that can be performed in the doctors office under local anesthesia in about an hour. Rezum uses blasts of water vapor to shrink enlarged prostate tissues, easing the symptoms of BPH. There is minimal downtime or after-care following the procedure, and patients may begin to see improvement in urinary function as early as two weeks after treatment. Best of all, Rezum has no sexual side effects, common with BPH medications. The procedure is effective for about 95% of patients, meaning no additional follow-up procedures are required.

UroLift is a good option for men who did well on BPH medication, but would prefer a solution that relieves symptoms without medication. UroLift is a minimally invasive outpatient procedure in which the surgeon inserts a small device, relieving pressure on the urethra and allowing urine to flow more freely. It accomplishes this without cutting or removing the prostate, thereby preserving sexual function. Men go home the same day with no catheter and no medications.

Prostate Surgery To Treat Nocturia And Other Symptoms Of Bph

University Hospitals Urology Institute offers a variety of minimally invasive and traditional surgery options to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia. Our minimally invasive procedures typically result in less pain, a shorter recovery time and may allow men to stop taking BPH medications. Your surgical treatment options at UH include:

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Harvard Experts Discuss Surgical Options For Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

Benign prostatic hyperplasia is one of the most common disorders affecting men as they grow older. Yet there is much confusion about the best way to treat this disorder surgically, in part because it seems that every year, a new surgical option is introduced.

Harvard editors invited three experts to participate in a roundtable discussion to share their thoughts about the relative benefits and risks of current surgical treatments for BPH.

Note: Men who decide to undergo surgery to relieve BPH symptoms have multiple options to choose from. Our panel of Harvard experts discusses the most common options, which are briefly defined below. See Table 3 for a comparison of recovery rates and other considerations.

The panel consisted of these experts:

Transurethral resection of the prostate . Still the most common form of surgery, TURP is often inelegantly referred to as the Roto-Rooter technique. This procedure takes place in an operating room under general or spinal anesthesia. During the procedure, the surgeon uses an instrument called a resectoscope to view the prostate . The surgeon threads the resectoscope through the penis to the prostate, then uses the electrical loop to cut away the overgrown tissue thats pressing against the urethra.

Isnt There Some Natural Supplement I Can Buy That Will Do All The Work For Me

Treatment Options for Enlarged Prostate (BPH), Presented by Sankar J. Kausik, M.D.

Scott frowned.

Yes, he replied. There are hundreds of overhyped prostate supplements out there.

All of them promise you a prince on a white horse and happily ever after.

And guess what theyre worth less than the cheap plastic bottles they come in.

Yes, there are some good vitamins, minerals, and enzymes that help. You can get them at your local supermarket.

But no one blend of supplements is going to shrink a prostate to a healthy size.

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Treatment For Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

If benign prostatic hyperplasia is affecting your life or sleep, then its time to seek treatment. As the symptoms get worse, this can have long standing effects on your bladder and quality of life.

Medication is the first line of treatment and usually these are used in combination.

There are two classes of medications to treat this prostate condition:

The Fundamental Difference Between Men With Enlarged Prostates And Healthy Men

Ill get back to this fundamental difference in a second.

Because Scott didnt stop there

After spending several months in the Amazon, he returned to the US.

Here, he examined hundreds of elderly American men who do not suffer enlarged prostates.

You have probably been told the myth that all men will develop enlarged prostates with age.

Thats simply not true.

Because one in five men never develops an enlarged prostate, no matter how old they become.

Again, the traditional medical system has no explanation of WHY these mens prostates dont grow bigger. Or WHAT these men do to keep their prostates in great shape.

But Scott found out.

Because those prostate-healthy American men confirmed

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But There Is No Magic Pill For An Enlarged Prostate

Healing my prostate was easy enough, but it still required some action.

At first, I was highly skeptical that Scott could help.

I only agreed because I was desperate.

Traditional medicine had completely failed me.

And spending a lot of money on expensive prostate supplements had taught me the bitter lesson that theyre nothing but useless shams.

I believed diet and lifestyle changes could help. But I had no idea where to start.

So, I decided to take the leap of faith.

Open Or Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy

TURP

In the more traditional approach to prostatectomy, called anopen prostatectomy, the surgeon operates through a single long skin incision to remove the prostate and nearby tissues. This type of surgery is done less often than in the past.

In a laparoscopic prostatectomy, the surgeon makes several smaller incisions and uses special long surgical tools to remove the prostate. The surgeon either holds the tools directly, or uses a control panel to precisely move robotic arms that hold the tools. This approach to prostatectomy has become more common in recent years. If done by experienced surgeons, the laparoscopic radical prostatectomy can give results similar to the open approach.

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Laser Surgery For An Enlarged Prostate Is No More Effective Than Standard Surgery

This is a plain English summary of an original research article

Two procedures to treat men with enlarged prostates are both effective, new research has shown.

A benign enlarged prostate is not cancer and is not usually a serious threat to health. But it is common in men over 50 and some need surgery to treat troublesome urinary symptoms caused by the growing prostate. The most common procedure is transurethral resection of the prostate which is usually successful but can lead to complications such as bleeding in some men.

The UNBLOCS trial compared the effectiveness of TURP to a new laser procedure which might reduce a patients hospital stay and cause fewer side effects. The thulium laser, ThuVARP, vaporises excess prostate. Men who needed a prostate operation were asked to consent to either procedure without knowing which one they would receive.

One year later, men in both groups were satisfied with their surgery. They reported similar improvements in their urinary symptoms and quality of life. There was no difference between the two procedures in terms of hospital stay or complications. However, men in the TURP group achieved a faster urinary flow rate . TURP was also slightly more cost-effective and faster to perform than the laser procedure.

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