Management of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Larger than 100 ml: Simple Open Enucleation Versus Transurethral Laser Prostatectomy

Abstract

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is one of the most common causes of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in aging men. Over the age of 60, more than a half of men have BPH and/or bothersome LUTS. Contemporary guidelines advocate surgery as the standard of care for symptomatic BPH after failure of medical therapy, where the choice of the appropriate surgical procedure depends on the prostate size. Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) and simple open prostatectomy (OP) have been considered for decades the reference-standard techniques for men with prostate smaller and larger than 80 ml, respectively. However, both procedures are potentially associated with considerable perioperative morbidity which prompted the introduction of a variety of minimally invasive surgical techniques with comparable long-term outcomes compared to TURP and OP. Nevertheless, the management of prostates larger than 100 ml remains a clinical challenge. Transurethral anatomical enucleation of the prostate utilizing different laser energy represents an excellent alternative concept in transurethral BPH surgery. These procedures gained popularity and demonstrated similar outcomes to OP with the advantages of favorable morbidity profiles and shorter catheter time and hospital stay. Despite the fact that OP remains a viable treatment option for patients with bothersome LUTS secondary to very large prostates, this procedure has been to a large extent replaced by these emerging enucleation techniques. Given the advent of surgical alternatives, the current review presents an evidence-based comparison of the efficacy and safety profile of the currently available transurethral laser techniques with the standard OP for the management of BPH due to adenomas larger than 100 ml.

Keywords: Benign prostatic hyperplasia; Enucleation; Laser vaporization; Open surgery; Prostatectomy; Prostatic adenoma.