Initial North American experience with the use of the Olympus Button Electrode for vaporization of bladder tumors.

The current treatment standard of care for patients who present de novo or with a recurrent bladder tumor is transurethral resection of the bladder tumor (TURBT) using monopolar or bipolar electrocautery in the form of a 90-degree loop electrode, which has been used since its introduction in 1952. This intervention, accomplished transurethrally, is both diagnostic and potentially therapeutic for patients with bladder cancer, especially for low grade, non muscle-invasive bladder tumors. Although usually safe and sufficient, this technique can create technical challenges, especially in the dynamically changing spherical space of the bladder. Bipolar energy has been available for many years and has been readily adopted for the endoscopic treatment of benign prostatic enlargement. A further refinement on bipolar energy has been the recent introduction of the Olympus Button Electrode (Olympus, Southborough, MA, USA). Coupling bipolar energy into the Olympus Button Electrode not only harnesses the benefits of less thermal spread but also obviates many of the geometric challenges associated with loop electrodes during resection of either large or inauspiciously placed bladder tumors. In this article, we detail our initial experience vaporizing bladder tumors with the Olympus Button Electrode. Although still very early in our experience, we have been able to completely vaporize very large tumors as well as tumors located in difficult parts of the bladder to access with minimal blood loss and no bladder perforations. Furthermore, our ability to obtain adequate grade and stage information has not been compromised by using this vaporization technique.