As men age, the likelihood of developing benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) – or enlarged prostate – increases. Half of all men in the U.S. ages 51 to 60 have BPH, according to the Urology Care Foundation.
Patients with BPH have an enlarged prostate that is non-cancerous. As the prostate gets larger, it begins to press on the urethra, affecting the ability of urine to pass from the bladder out of the body. If left untreated, BPH can cause significant health problems, including irreversible bladder or kidney damage, bladder stones and incontinence.
Diagnosing BPH
Patients with BPH often start experiencing symptoms such as frequent or urgent urination, urinary incontinence, or pain during ejaculation or urination. If these symptoms are ignored, they can worsen and lead to blood in the urine, kidney or bladder stones, UTIs, or other health and sexual dysfunction issues.
The first step toward finding relief from these symptoms is to schedule an appointment with an urologist. Once a patient schedules an appointment to meet with an urologist, they will discuss their personal and family medical history, undergo a brief physical exam, and some testing to determine if their prostate is enlarged.
Depending on the patient, providers may prescribe medication or lifestyle changes. If the enlarged prostate is affecting the patient’s quality of life and they need more immediate relief from their symptoms, surgical procedures are an option to be considered.
How Aquablation therapy works
Several current BPH surgical treatments often force men to choose between symptom relief and side effects like incontinence or erectile dysfunction.
Aquablation therapy is a minimally-invasive procedure performed while the patient is under anesthesia in an operating room. Using an FDA-approval surgical robot called the AquaBeam® Robotic System, surgeons create a personalized treatment plan by precisely imaging each patient’s anatomy.
After completing the mapping, a robotically controlled, heat-free waterjet surgically removes the affected prostate tissue in a process called ablation. This procedure avoids critical structures that preserve sexual function and continence.
The procedure takes approximately 45 minutes – about half the time for other surgical procedures that treat BPH.
Recovery
After the procedure, the patient will have a catheter for 24-72 hours. Most patients stay overnight in the hospital for a night; some patients are able to leave the hospital without a catheter after that overnight stay.
After arriving home, some patients may feel a mild burning sensation while urinating for 1-2 weeks. This pain can be managed with over-the-counter pain medication and typically goes away over time.
Clinical studies show Aquablation therapy patients end up having long-term relief from their symptoms.
“Rochester Regional is proud to be among the first in the Finger Lakes, Western and Central New York to offer a solution for men with BPH that provides significant, long-lasting symptom relief with lower risk of sexual dysfunction or incontinence,” said Louis Eichel, MD, Chief, Division of Urology, Rochester General Hospital. “Aquablation therapy is the next step to furthering our commitment to robotic surgery and men’s health. This new tool is the latest move by Rochester Regional to step up our game as we modernize and transform health care.”
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