Transurethral RollerLoop vapor resection of prostate for treatment of symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia: A 2-year follow-up study.

Objective. We compared the 2-year safety and efficacy of two transurethral resection techniques—transurethral vapor resection of the prostate (TUVRP) and conventional loop transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP)—in the surgical management of benign prostatic hyperplasia. Material and methods. Between August 1997 and September 2002, 441 patients underwent transurethral prostatectomy, either TUVRP (n=221) or TURP (n=220). TUVRP was performed using a “RollerLoop” resection loop. All patients were assessed preoperatively by means of International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), quality of life (QOL) score, prostate volume, peak urinary flow (Qmax) and post-void residual volume (PVR) measurements and a sexual function questionnaire. Patients were followed up for 3, 6, 12 and 24 months after surgery, and this was followed by a comparison of the incidences of sexual dysfunction, complications and re-treatment. Results. After 2 years of follow-up, no differences were noted between the TUVRP and TURP groups with respect to average IPSS (p&VeryThinSpace;=&VeryThinSpace;0.9), QOL scores (p&VeryThinSpace;=&VeryThinSpace;0.56), Qmax (p&VeryThinSpace;=&VeryThinSpace;0.89) or PVR (p&VeryThinSpace;=&VeryThinSpace;0.55), as well as the incidences of bladder neck contracture or urethral stricture (p&VeryThinSpace;=&VeryThinSpace;0.34), re-treatment (p&VeryThinSpace;=&VeryThinSpace;0.49) or sexual dysfunction (p&VeryThinSpace;=&VeryThinSpace;0.57). However, significant reductions in operative time (p&VeryThinSpace;=&VeryThinSpace;0.005), decrease in serum hemoglobin levels (p&VeryThinSpace;<&VeryThinSpace;0.001), catheterization time (p&VeryThinSpace;<&VeryThinSpace;0.001), postoperative hospital stay (p&VeryThinSpace;<&VeryThinSpace;0.001) and hospitalization costs (p&VeryThinSpace;<&VeryThinSpace;0.001) were observed in the TUVRP group compared to the TURP group. Conclusion. Our results suggest that TUVRP provides equivalent safety and efficacy to TURP during a 2-year follow-up period, in which short-term advantages in perioperative morbidity and cost savings were also demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]