Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

“The patients I find that have the most pronounced benefit are the patients with the very large prostates, or the patients who are catheter dependent with concern for neurogenic or myogenic bladder failure,” says Brendan M. Browne, MD.

"If we synergize our efforts and our energy, as the level of the sea rises, all ships on the sea will rise with it," says Wayne Kuang, MD.

"We also need to understand and remember that drugs are temporizing measures," says Wayne Kuang, MD.

"We are now in the golden era of BPH/BPO for both diagnostics and therapeutics," says Wayne Kuang, MD.

"We're asking the bladder to come have a seat and to give voice to surgical choice," says Wayne Kuang, MD.

As the year comes to a close, we revisit some of this year’s top content on benign prostatic hyperplasia.

"We're trying to be the coach to our patients," says Wayne Kuang, MD.

"There are only 2 major organs you can't transplant: the brain and the bladder. So let's take care of the bladder," says Wayne Kuang, MD.

"The main benefit, I guess, for Aquablation over TURP, is the fact that the sexual side effects are much better when compared to TURP," says Mohamad Baker Berjaoui, MD.

"I think the precision of Aquablation helps significantly with improving the results," says Mohamad Baker Berjaoui, MD.

"I think [for] the consistency, we can give [a lot of] credit to the fact that Aquablation gives a lot of precision in terms of treating BPH," says Mohamad Baker Berjaoui, MD.

"This study basically [looks at] WATER and WATER II over 5 years' follow-up," says Mohamad Baker Berjaoui, MD.

“Certainly, I think when you have these inherent challenges or biases in the reimbursement aspects, it has to beg the question, does this or how will this impact the future of acquisition or passing down of these newer technologies?” says Kevin C. Zorn, MD, FRCSC, FACS.

"For urologists that are interested in implementing Aquablation into their armamentarium, I am very envious, because anyone who is going to start doing Aquablation now is going to be using the HYDROS System," says Ravi Munver, MD.

“There's not an increase of reimbursement across all provinces in Canada that met up or was at par with the cost-of-living index,” says Kevin C. Zorn, MD, FRCSC, FACS.

"Over a third of Americans actually use some kind of what we term complementary or alternative medicine approach," says Raevti Bole, MD.

Raevti Bole, MD, recently presented a talk at the SMSNA Fall Scientific Meeting on nonsurgical BPH management.

"With Aquablation, because of the real-time ultrasound image and the 3D animation that's created, you can see the actual dimensions and shape of the tunnel that's created before you even start the procedure," says Ravi Munver, MD.

"Aquablation can be used for small, medium, large, and extra-large prostates," says Ravi Munver, MD.

"Aquablation is like no other transurethral therapy that has come about in the last 100 years," says Ravi Munver, MD.

“So, we have all of this new technology that's about a year old, making surgery a lot safer for patients, making things more efficient, and [giving us] the ability to see stone removal happening from a perspective where we can visualize stone clearance in a way that we haven't been able to before,” says Marcelino E. Rivera, MD.

“While there are other treatment options available for treating BPH, there remains a significant need for much less invasive treatment approaches that can preserve and protect the integrity of the urethra and other critical structures," says Ryan Rhodes.

"[Aquablation] is the only therapy that offers the benefits of a true resective therapy, which is what it is, as well as a non-resective therapy," says Ravi Munver, MD.

"Aquablation is versatile. It can manage a very wide range of prostate sizes and shapes," says Stephen Overholser, MD.

“If you haven't used HYDROS before, or if you're concerned about doing bigger glands or tackling more difficult cases, I think we've shown in our first 35-40,000 cases that Aquablation, the therapy, is a valid therapy,” says Lewis S. Kriteman, MD, FACS.

"The evolution is continuing, now with a decade of human use of Aquablation, we can now take this to a same-day procedure––discharge the same calendar day," says Kevin C. Zorn, MD, FRCSC, FACS.

"I think it's going to help younger or less experienced urologists get more proficient at this procedure faster. That's where the AI is going to come into play," says Lewis S. Kriteman, MD, FACS.

“The technology is there, the experience is there now, and it's bringing it all together to lead to better outcomes [and a] shorter hospital stay,” says Kevin C. Zorn, MD, FRCSC, FACS.

A full market release of the HYDROS System is expected within the current quarter.

“I think particularly as we've had the technology for longer and we've used it more and become more comfortable with it, there's really nobody, necessarily, that can't be considered for it,” says Aaron M. Bernie, MD, MPH.