Outcomes of prostatic urethral lift in a medically complex population at a veterans affairs hospital

The objective of this study is to report "real-world" outcomes of prostatic urethral lift (PUL) in a medically complex US military veteran population while employing liberalized procedural indications.

A retrospective review was conducted of patients who underwent PUL at our institution. There were no prostatic size requirements, patients were accepted on anti-platelet/anticoagulant therapy, no benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) medication washout was required, and there was no maximum post-void residual PVR. Pre- and post-operative International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), uroflowmetry, and PVR were recorded. Statistical comparisons were performed using simple t tests.

From 2013 to 2019, 91 patients underwent PUL. Mean age was 70 (range 55-92) years. The majority of our patients were classified as American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class 3 versus the general population at ASA class 2. Post-operatively, IPSS decreased by an average of 43% (23 to 13, p < 0.001). There was a mean 41% decrease in PVR (179 to 101 cc, p = 0.009), which was durable for a follow-up of up to 54 months. Maximum urinary flow rate improved by an average of 32% (9.3 to 12.3 cc/s, p = 0.003), which was also durable throughout follow- up. Forty-four patients required catheterization pre-operatively and 16 required catheterization post-operatively. Therefore, 27 patients (61.4%) were rendered catheter-free by PUL. Thirty-nine patients were taking antiplatelet medications peri-operatively, and 13 took anticoagulants. Only one patient (on warfarin) experienced hematuria requiring re-admission with catheter placement.

PUL produced effective and durable results in our veteran population, including in patients with significant pre-operative bladder decompensation and those on antiplatelets/anticoagulants.