THE PROSTATRON TRANSURETHRAL MICROWAVE DEVICE IN THE TREATMENT OF BLADDER OUTFLOW OBSTRUCTION DUE TO BENIGN PROSTATIC HYPERPLASIA

There is currently considerable interest in the development of non-sur gical means of managing bladder outflow obstruction due to benign pros tatic hyperplasia (BPH). We report the results of a 1-year follow-up o f 140 men (mean age 67.2 years) presenting with symptoms of bladder ou tflow obstruction treated for 1 h in a single session by the Prostatro n transurethral thermotherapy system. Symptom scores, using a system m odified from Boyarsky, fell from baseline values of 23.7 to 11.6. Maxi mum urinary flow values increased from a mean of 10.1 to 12.4 ml/s. Al though residual urine volumes decreased slightly, this was not statist ically significant. A self-administered postal questionnaire returned by 114 patients 1 year after Prostatron treatment, and by 87 patients of similar age who had undergone transurethral resection of the prosta te (TURP) in the same institution, revealed that patient satisfaction regarding the outcome of each procedure was higher for TURP than therm otherapy. However, more patients suffered sexual dysfunction after TUR P than after microwave treatment. It was concluded that although treat ment with the Prostatron device produces subjective and objective impr ovement in a proportion of patients with BPH, more work needs to be do ne to improve the overall results and to pre-identify patients who exp erience little or no benefit from this therapy.