A COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF LASER-ABLATION AND TRANSURETHRAL ELECTRORESECTION FOR BENIGN PROSTATIC HYPERPLASIA - RESULTS OF A 6-MONTH FOLLOW-UP

Objective To compare the efficacy of standard transurethral electrores ection of the prostate (TURF) and visual laser ablation in the treatme nt of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), Patients and methods In a ra ndomized prospective study, the prostate glands of 60 patients with sy mptomatic bladder outlet obstruction caused by BPH were treated with T URF or visual ablation with the Ultraline side-firing Nd:YAG laser; th e patients were assessed using standard symptom scores, the measuremen t of residual urine and uroflowmetry both before and at 3 and 6 months after treatment. Results All patients in both treatment groups had a significant improvement in symptoms and objective measures of voiding. The laser treatment gave significantly better improvements in symptom score than did TURF (P = 0.034), but TURF produced significantly bett er peak urinary low rates (P = 0.025). Conclusion These early results indicate that laser ablation of BPH may be a good alternative in the s urgical treatment of this disease.