A COMPARISON OF TRANSRECTAL HYPERTHERMIA, TRANSURETHRAL THERMOTHERAPY, UROLUME WALLSTENT, AND PROSTATIC SPIRAL FOR BENIGN PROSTATIC HYPERPLASIA PATIENTS AT POOR OPERATIVE RISK

Transrectal hyperthermia, transurethral thermotherapy, prostatic stent , and prostatic spiral were used to treat 120 poor operative risk pati ents with symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia. The preoperative s ubjective and objective conditions of the four groups (each of 30 pati ents) were comparable. None of the patients had an indwelling catheter , but according to flow nomograms, all were obstructed. The greatest i ncrease in peak flow rate was observed after stent placement, while th e greatest decease of residual urine volume was seen after the inserti on of the stent and transrectal hyperthermia. According to maximum flo w nomograms, only the placement of the stent resolved bladder outlet o bstruction. The greatest improvement in subjective symptoms was the re sult of stent insertion, but the heating procedures also caused a sign ificant reduction of symptom scores. The spiral produced satisfactory results only in the short term. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.