Laser irradiation for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is one of the most common medical problems encountered in the United States. For many years, transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) has been the mainstay of treatment for symptomatic BPH. In recent times, newer modalities of treatment in the form of drugs (a- blockers, LHRH-agonist, anti-androgens, 5 a-reductase inhibitors), microwave hyperthermia, prostatic stents, balloon urethroplasty, laser prostatectomy, and most recently High Intensity Focal Ultrasound (HIFU) and Trans Urethral Needle Ablation (TUNA) are challenging TURP as the gold standard therapy for BPH. Today, laser prostatectomy holds a special place in therapy of BPH, as it is easy to perform, safe to apply with a vastly improved patient compliance, and is the first choice in certain special circumstances, e.g., patients on anticoagulants. In this chapter we discuss the present status of laser prostatectomy for BPH.