Real-world short-term outcomes of prostate urethral lift in Japan: A prospective cohort study

We report the first prospective trial of prostatic urethral lift for the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia in Japan.

This prospective study was conducted at a single institution and included patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia who underwent prostatic urethral lift based on the Japanese surgical indication. The primary efficacy endpoint was reduced international prostatic symptoms score in the early postoperative period after prostatic urethral lift. To assess efficacy, international prostatic symptoms score, quality of life, sexual health inventory for men, and uroflowmetry were evaluated 2 weeks before, 2 weeks after, and 6 weeks after surgery.

We enrolled 120 elderly men. The patients experienced significantly reduced international prostatic symptoms scores from 15 at the baseline to 13 at 2 weeks, and to 10 at 6 weeks, respectively. The peak flow rates did not change significantly at any time point. Three patients had serious adverse events of grade 3a in the Clavien-Dindo classification. Four patients were evaluated for sexual function, and none had ejaculatory dysfunction.

In the Japanese population, prostatic urethral lift is reliably performed under local anesthesia and rapidly improves symptoms.