Comparison of urinary incontinence following three different prostate apex disconnection techniques in transurethral thulium laser prostatectomy.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the incidence of urinary incontinence following transurethral thulium laser prostatectomy with three different prostate apex disconnection techniques: semi-separation, pre-separation, and post-separation. The findings aim to provide references for clinical treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 74 patients treated with transurethral thulium laser prostatectomy for prostatic hyperplasia from April 2022 to March 2023. Complete clinical and follow-up data were available for 52 patients. Clinical and follow-up data were collected for these patients. A comparison was made of urinary incontinence following the three different types of prostate apex disconnection in transurethral thulium laser prostatectomy. RESULTS: In this study, the immediate postoperative urinary incontinence rate for transurethral thulium laser prostatectomy was 9.62% (5/52), the short-term incontinence rate was 11.54% (5/52), and the long-term incontinence rate was 9.62% (5/52). The immediate postoperative incontinence rates for semi-separation, pre-separation, and post- separation were 8.33% (1/12), 8.33% (2/24), and 12.5% (2/16), respectively. The short-term incontinence rates for semi-separation, pre-separation, and post-separation were 8.33% (1/12), 8.33% (2/24), and 18.75% (3/16), respectively. The long-term incontinence rates for semi-separation, pre-separation, and post-separation were 8.33% (1/12), 8.33% (2/24), and 12.5% (2/16), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of urinary incontinence following transurethral thulium laser prostatectomy was lower with semi-separation and pre-separation compared to post-separation.

["Double Grooves-Double Rings" technique of transurethral Thulium laser enucleation of the prostate: learning curve of single surgeon].

Objective: To evaluate the learning curve of the "Double Grooves-Double Rings" (DGDR) technique of transurethral Thulium laser enucleation of the prostate (ThuLEP) for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) by a single surgeon. From June 2021 to July 2022, 84 patients mean age (69.0±8.0) years,preoperative prostate volume (90.9±40.3)ml with BPH underwent ThuLEP in the Department of Urology, Peking University First Hospital.Performed by a single surgeon who had no experience of transurethral resection of prostate (TURP) and any laser surgeries. The case scatter plots with the best fitting line were drawn to analyze the learning curve. According to the date of the surgeries, the patients were equally divided into three learning stages (28 patients for each group). The T-PSA,prostate volume,operative time,enucleation time, enucleation efficiency,catheter indwelling time, hemoglobin drop and perioperative complications (including re-TURP, blood transfusion, stress incontinence≥3 months and urethral stricture) were compared among the groups. The learning curve was divided into three stages, and the cutting point was shown on the 14th case. Except the prostate volume [stage1 (75.7±30.7) ml, stage2 (93.40±39.6)ml, stage3 (103.5±46.2) ml, P<0.05], there was no significant difference of the baseline data between three groups (P>0.05). Compared with those of stage 1(100.6±24.7) min,(0.55±0.22) g/min, a statistically significant improvement was observed in both of the operative time and the enucleation efficiency among stage 2[(84.5±36.6) min, (0.87±0.33) g/min and stage 3 (71.2±26.3) min, (1.27±0.45) g/min, P<0.05]. The learning curve of the DGDR technique for ThuLEP can be divided into three stages. A ThuLEP beginner can preliminarily master this technique after completing 14 cases.