[Long-term results after prostate vaporisation : GreenLight™ laser vaporisation of the prostate and electrovaporisation].

BACKGROUND

Various minimally invasive techniques are available for the surgical treatment of benign prostatic obstruction. Besides resection and enucleation, vaporization of the prostate is an attractive alternative.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of the present article is to provide a comprehensive literature review on long-term results of GreenLight™ laser vaporisation and electrovaporisation of the prostate.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A literature search on long-term (≥5 years) results of GreenLight™ laser vaporization of the prostate and electrovaporisation of the prostate.

RESULTS

Laser vaporization of the prostate with the GreenLight™ laser leads to an immediate and long-lasting improvement of voiding symptoms beyond 5 years. Currently, no long-term data of the 180 W laser model are available. With the former 80 W laser, an increased rate of reoperation due to recurrent obstruction has been described. As reoperation mainly occurs within the first 2 postoperative years, this suggests insufficient tissue ablation. Electrovaporisation of the prostate also leads to an improvement of voiding symptoms. However, only few studies on long-term results are available which report a relatively high rate of treatment failure. In addition, these studies have limitations in study design.

CONCLUSIONS

Laser vaporisation of the prostate with the GreenLight™ laser seems to be an effective minimally invasive treatment alternative for BPO. However, long-term results of the current 180 W laser are still awaited. Based on limited data, electrovaporisation of the prostate currently cannot be recommended as an established treatment alternative.