Elettrovaporizzazione endoscopica della prostata (TVP): Esperienza su 112 casi

Transurethral electrovaporisation of the prostate (TVP) is one of the most recent techniques utilised as an alternative to TURP for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). This study reports our experience with TVP on 112 patients affected by BPH. All the patients had an adenoma equal or less than 40 grams in weight, maximum flow rate less than 10 ml per second or urine retention and PSA less than 4 mcg per litre. In all cases TVP was carried out without any complications during the operation (mean time 32 minutes) with no bleeding. 102 patients had the catheter removed after two days and 10 after 4 days. The maximum flow rate increased from 6.7 ml per second before the operation to 25.1 ml per second post operation. In 7 patients (6.2%) with unsatisfactory flow and/or with adenoma residue, it was necessary to perform a second TVP. 8 patients had temporary stress incontinence for 3 months after the operation, while one patient had permanent orthostatic incontinence. We can conclude that TVP is an easy technique to learn and has given the same clinical and urodynamic results as TURP, with negligible bleeding. The complication of temporary post operative incontinence in 7 patients and permanent incontinence in one patient, requires further studies to understand whether this is due to the surgical technique or to the actual method.