Technique, outcome and changes in prostate dimensions in patients with urinary retention managed by aquablation

This study aimed to investigate the functional and urodynamic outcome of Aquablation in patients with acute urinary retention (AUR) on catheters.Men aged 50-70 who failed medical treatment of BPO with AUR failing to wean off urethral catheter were recruited to undergo Aquablation. Individuals were assessed pre-operatively and at 3 and 6 months after surgery. The primary outcome was defined by the success rate of weaning off catheter. Secondary outcomes were measured by a change in prostate size, symptom scores and urodynamic parameters.Twenty patients underwent Aquablation between June 2019 and September 2020. Mean duration of the urethral catheter in-situ was 5.9 ± 4.9 weeks and mean prostate size of the cohort pre-operatively was 60.8 ± 15.8 cc. A second pass Aqaublation treatment was performed in 14 patients. Five patients failed to wean off the catheter on the first attempt after surgery, requiring another attempt 1 week later which were all successful. At 3 months after the operation, a significant reduction in prostate volume was observed (60.8 ± 15.8 cc vs 24.9 ± 10.3 cc, p 0.001). No change in international index of erectile function (IIEF) was found (baseline: 16.1 ± 5.8; 3-month: 14.9 ± 6.4; p = 0.953). Mean bladder outlet obstruction index was 14.2 ± 23.0 at 6 months upon urodynamic assessment with 75% of patients had a resolution of detrusor overactivity. Reduction in prostate length was found to be more significant than a reduction in width and height after Aquablation (R = 0.693, p = 0.039).From the early data of a single centre, Aquablation was shown to provide a consistent improvement in symptoms, uroflowmetry and urodynamic parameters in patient with a urethral catheter. Results from our study suggest that improvement from Aquablation is reproducible in patients with AUR.