Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate With Virtual Basket Mode: Faster and Better Control on Bleeding

Abstract

BACKGROUND: To compare clinical intra and early postoperative outcomes between conventional Holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP) and Holmium laser enucleation of the prostate with Virtual Basket tool (VB-HoLEP) to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).METHODS: This prospective randomized study enrolled consecutive patients with BPH to HoLEP (n = 100) or VB-HoLEP (n =100). We evaluated all patients preoperatively with particular attention to catheterization time, operative time, blood loss, irrigation volume and hospital stay. We evaluated also the patients at 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery with the use of maximum flow rate (Qmax), postvoid residual urine volume (PVR) and International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS).RESULTS: We didn’t see significant difference in preoperative parameters between patients in each study arm. Compared with HoLEP, VB-HoLEP resulted in less hemoglobin decrease (2.54 vs 1.12 g/dL, P = .003) and had a more rapid operative time (57.33±29.71 vs 42.99±18.51 minutes, P = 0.04). HoLEP and VB-HoLEP had same catheterization time (2.2 vs 1.9 days, P = 0.45), irrigation volume (33.3 vs 31.7 L, P = 0.69), and hospital stay (2.8 vs 2.7 days, P = 0.21). During the follow-up of subsequent 12 months, we didn’t demonstrate a significant difference in IPSS, Qmax, PVR, and QOLS.CONCLUSION: HoLEP and VB-HoLEP both are efficient a safe procedure for relieving lower urinary tract symptoms. VB-HoLEP was statistically superior to HoLEP in blood loss and to allow a faster procedure. However, procedures did not differ significantly in catheterization time, hospital stay, operation time and irrigation volume. No differences were demonstrated in QOLF, IPSS, Qmax and PVR through the post-surgery 12 months of follow-up.TRIAL REGISTRATION: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN72879639; date of registration: June 25th, 2015. Retrospectively registred.