Surgery is usually only recommended when either medications and minimally invasive procedures have been ineffective or when BPH symptoms are particularly difficult or severe.

Surgery to remove enlarged prostate tissue includes:

Transurethral Resection of the Prostate

With Transurethral Resection of the Prostate (TURP), a urologist performs surgery using a technique called the transurethral method. This is carried out using a resectoscope which is a thin metal tube containing a light, camera and a loop of wire. This is passed along the urethra until it reaches your prostate.

The loop of wire is then heated with an electric current and used to cut away the section of your prostate causing your symptoms. General or spinal anesthesia is used during the procedure, so you don’t feel any pain while it’s carried out.

You’ll usually need to stay in hospital for one to three days after the operation. One of the benefits of TURP is that no incisions need to be made in your skin.

Transurethral Incision of the Prostate

With TUIP, a urologist inserts a cystoscope and an instrument that uses an electric current or a laser beam through the urethra to reach the prostate. The urologist widens the urethra by making a few small cuts in the prostate and in the bladder neck.

Some urologists believe that TUIP gives the same relief as TURP except with less risk of side effects. Like TURP one of the benefits of TUIP is that no incisions need to be made in your skin.

Laser Surgery of the Prostate

This involves the urologist using a high-energy laser to destroy prostate tissue. They use a cystoscope to pass a laser fiber through the urethra into the prostate. This laser beam is then used to destroy the enlarged tissue.

The risk of bleeding is lower than in TURP and TUIP because the laser seals blood vessels as it cuts through the prostate tissue. However, it has been found that laser surgery may not effectively treat greatly enlarged prostates.

Open Prostatectomy

In an open prostatectomy, a urologist makes an incision, or cut, through the skin to reach the prostate. They can then remove all or part of the prostate through this incision. Open prostatectomy is most often used when the prostate is greatly enlarged, or the bladder is damaged and needs repair.

Open prostatectomy requires general anesthesia, plus a longer hospital stay than other surgical procedures for BPH together with a longer period of rehabilitation. There are three open prostatectomy procedures, retropubic prostatectomy, suprapubic prostatectomy and perineal prostatectomy.

Complications after surgery may include:

Problems Urinating

You may experience urinary frequency, urgency, or retention; however, these problems will gradually lessen after a few months and urination will be easier and less frequent.

Bleeding and Blood Clots

The prostate or tissues around it may bleed after surgery and blood or blood clots may appear in urine. Some bleeding is normal and should clear up within a few days of surgery.

Urinary Incontinence

As the bladder returns to normal you may have some short-term problems controlling urination. If urinary problems existed for a  long time before surgery it will usually take longer for the bladder to regain its full function afterwards.

Scar Tissue

Following surgery scar tissue may form in the urethra and cause it to narrow. This will require further surgical treatment. This can be done by stretching the urethra in a similar surgical procedure to TUIP.

Sexual Dysfunction

Some men may experience temporary problems with sexual function following BPH surgery.

How long this lasts for depends on the type of surgery performed and how long symptoms were present before it. Surgery rarely causes a loss of erectile function. However, BPH surgery cannot usually restore function that was lost before surgery.

The alternative to invasive surgery is Shockwave Therapy. Find out more by following the link or by completing the contact form below.