Dr. Marhamati on initial outcomes with Aquablation in ASC setting

Potomac Urology has become the first US-based location to offer Aquablation for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) setting. In this interview, Shawn H. Marhamati, MD, MS, shares initial insights into outcomes with the trial thus far. Marhamati is a urologist at Potomac Urology in Northern Virginia.

Video Transcript:

Which patients are better suited for same-day surgery?

In the hospital setting, we noted an inverse correlation between gland size and our same-day discharge rates. Therefore, we started out pretty conservatively as far as our gland sizes. Thus far, they’ve ranged between 30 and 90 grams. We're currently avoiding patients in urinary retention, those with large pedunculated median lobes, or patients with serious medical comorbidities, patients with BMIs over 40, or patients on anticoagulants or antiplatelet therapy. As we continue the trial, I do see us slowly continuing to expand our inclusion criteria until we can develop evidence-based series of guidelines to help guide pre- and post-op protocols.

What are the benefits of performing Aquablation in an ASC setting?

Thus far, our patients have spent an average of just under 2 hours in the recovery area, with less than an hour of that being spent with continuous bladder irrigation. So already, we're seeing a dramatic benefit to our practice and to our patients in terms of length of stay. Consistent with what is reported across all procedures, we're also seeing decreased turnover times compared to the hospital. Moving forward, we also anticipate that greater urologist control will contribute to higher patient satisfaction. As we look even further on the horizon, as we all know, over the next 10 years there is going to be nearly double the number of symptomatic and late-stage BPH patients coming into our facilities, while we have a stable of number of urologists in the work force. We anticipate that incorporating a resective procedure as efficient and standardized as Aquablation into the ASC setting will help increase patient access and shorten wait times.

This transcription has been edited for clarity.