Photoselective vaporization for prostatic obstruction with the 120-W lithium triborate laser: 1-year clinical outcomes.

There are few reports of the clinical outcomes of photoselective vaporization of the prostate (PVP) for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) using the 120-W lithium triborate (LBO) laser. The present study evaluates clinical outcomes of 76 men treated with the 120-W LBO laser by an experienced PVP surgeon with 12 months follow up. The International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), peak flow rate (Qmax) and post-void residual (PVR) were examined at baseline and at 3 and 12 months. These parameters at baseline and 12 months were 20 ± 7.0, 7.6 ± 3.5 mL/s, 155 ± 155 mL and 8.1 ± 6.1, 22.5 ± 10.3 mL/s, 59 ± 87 mL, respectively. Clinically, meaningful improvements in IPSS, Qmax and PVR were observed at 3 months and sustained at 12 months. There were few adverse events, with only 5.3% of patients requiring recatheterization. Clinical outcome at 12 months was similar to that at 3 months and to other published series.

Mini-photoselective vaporization of the prostate for difficult intermittent self-catheterization.

Bladder neck incision or transurethral incision of the prostate is a procedure described for men with bladder outflow obstruction associated with a gland size of less than 30 ml. We report a case of a man with detrusor dysfunction who was having increasing difficulty performing clean intermittent self-catheterization of the bladder. The successful use of the 120 W lithium triborate laser to perform a "mini-photoselective vaporization of the prostate" ("mini-PVP") enabled discharge of the patient on the same day as well as resolution of the patient's difficulties in performing self-catheterization. Mini-PVP has proven to be a simple and effective approach to resolution of a prostate configuration impeding the process of clean intermittent self-catheterization.