Aquablation Therapy for Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH)

What’s BPH? 

Benign Prostate Hyperplasia, or BPH, is a swelling of the prostate gland. It’s noncancerous, but left untreated, it can affect sexual functioning. 

What’s Aquablation Therapy?

Aquablation therapy is a new therapy developed to treat BPH. It uses a highly concentrated water jet to remove the excess prostate tissue causing symptoms. There’s no need for a surgical incision – the jet is inserted into the body through the urethra.

Unlike other methods of treating BPH, it doesn’t:

• Require medications which may have negative side effects
• Doesn’t have a long recovery time
• Doesn’t affect sexual function

Aquablation therapy usually takes less than an hour and involves an overnight stay in the hospital. 

How Does Aquablation Therapy Work? 

Aquablation therapy is a two-step process:

• SURGICAL MAPPING
  Doctors use ultrasound imaging to create a 3D image of the prostate. This allows them to “map out” the parts of the prostate to be removed to avoid damaging the remaining part, which could cause erectile or ejaculatory dysfunction or incontinence.
• REMOVAL OF EXCESS TISSUE
  Surgeons insert a robotically controlled, heat-free waterjet into the urethra and use water pressure to remove those portions of the prostate causing problems. Use of robots ensures far greater precision and consistency than traditional surgery and provides long-term relief of symptoms. 

What Results Can I Expect? 

Aquablation therapy is safe and requires far less recovery time than traditional surgical methods:

• There is no recorded impact on erectile function, sexual desire or satisfaction or orgasmic function.
• Neary all patients were able to ejaculate normally following ablation therapy.
• Ninety-nine percent of patients experienced no issues with incontinence following ablation therapy.

Patients are catheterized following the procedure, but are generally able to return home the next day without one. Some patients experience a mild burning sensation during urination, but this low level of discomfort can be managed with over-the-counter pain medication.