As men age, their prostates enlarge, resulting in symptoms of frequent urination, difficulty emptying the bladder, slow flow, and a sense of incomplete bladder emptying. Getting up at night frequently to urinate is one of the most bothersome symptoms of an enlarged prostate, often driving men to seek treatment.
Medication can be effective in relaxing the grip that the prostate has on the urethra, around which it is wrapped. With less tension around the urethra, the urine can flow through the urethra more readily. A daily pill taken at night can often result in a better flow, less frequency, and, ideally, less awakening at night to urinate.
If medication is not providing sufficient relief from symptoms, surgery is an option. Prostate surgery used to be one of the most common operations performed in the US. With the aging population of active, healthy men, prostate surgery is still performed often. Medical management of prostate disease has delayed the need for surgical intervention in many men. However, medication does not usually the growth of the gland. The result is that men who do go for surgery, often have large prostates, are older, and are often on blood thinners at the time at which they need prostate surgery because of heart disease, or a history of stroke.
Laser technology has allowed urologist to perform efficient, safe, and effective surgery for men with enlarged prostates, regardless of age. The thermal energy emitted by the laser vaporizes the tissue without resulting in blood loss. Many of these procedures can be done with a light anesthetic and patients can go home the day of surgery without a catheter, urinating better than they have in 30 years. If you would like to learn more about laser treatment in prostate surgery, please call our office or press the "Book Online" button to make an appointment to see one of our physicians.
