Neodymium:YAG visual laser ablation of the prostate: 7 years of experience with 230 patients.

PURPOSE: We evaluated the short and long-term outcome of neodymium:YAG visual laser ablation prostatectomy for treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 230 patients with symptomatic BPH underwent visual laser ablation prostatectomy. Evaluation measures included the American Urological Association symptom score, maximum urinary flow rate, post-void residual urine volume and morbidity. RESULTS: Median followup was 36 months (range 6 to 79). Of the patients 220, 196, 180, and 167 were available at 6 months, 1, 2 and 3 years, respectively. Moreover, 98 patients were followed for a minimum 5 years. At 6 months maximum urinary flow rate increased from 6.7 to 17.9 ml. per second, post-void residual urine volume decreased from 159 to 52 ml. and the American Urological Association symptom score was reduced from 22 to 7.2. Improvement in the evaluation parameters also continued at 5 years. Early complications consisted of prostatitis, urinary retention, and bleeding in 6 (2.6%), 3 (1.4%) and 1 (0.4%) patient, respectively. Irritative symptoms persisting greater than 4 weeks were seen in 28 (12.2%) patients. Late complications were bladder neck contracture, urethral stricture, and urinary retention in 3 (1.4%), 2 (0.9%) and 2 (0.9%) patients, respectively. Of the 153 sexually active men 5 noticed erectile impotence at 6 months. There were 20 (12.0%) patients who reported retrograde ejaculation. The reoperation rate was 5.5%. CONCLUSIONS: Our results further confirmed that visual laser ablation prostatectomy is a safe and effective treatment for BPH. It has minimal morbidity and durable therapeutic effects. However, the major disadvantage is postoperative irritative voiding symptoms.