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If you have “prostate trouble,” you’re not alone. More than 70% of men in their 60s have an enlarged prostate, also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). While unrelated to prostate cancer, BPH can have unwelcome symptoms. Ochsner offers alternative treatments for BPH.
About the Prostate
The prostate is the male reproductive gland that produces fluid for semen. About the size of a walnut, it surrounds the urethra, the tube that carries urine out of the body from the bladder. When the prostate enlarges, it presses on and blocks this tube, causing BPH signs and symptoms including:
- A need for frequent urination – day and night
- An urgent feeling or need to urinate
- A weak or slow urinary stream
- Difficulty or a delay in starting urination
- A urinary stream that stops and starts
- A sense that you can’t completely empty your bladder
Consult An Ochsner Urologist Today
Scheduling a Patient Appointment
If you have benign prostatic hyperplasia symptoms, it’s time to find out which is the best BPH treatment for you. To schedule an appointment for a consultation with an Ochsner urologist, call 504-894-2887 or schedule your appointment online at MyOchsner.org.
BPH Treatment Options
Medical Therapy
- A range of services provided to patients to optimize therapeutic outcomes
The Rezūm System
- Rezūm is a treatment for BPH that can be performed in a clinic or out-patient setting. Rezūm uses the stored thermal energy in water vapor (steam) to treat the extra prostate tissue that is causing symptoms such as frequency, urgency, irregular flow, weak stream, straining and getting up at night to urinate.
Transurethral Resection of the Prostate (TURP)
- TURP, the most common surgery to treat BPH, involves removing prostate tissue. It requires general anesthesia and the body needs more time to heal.
- Short-term problems can include bleeding, infection, erectile dysfunction, and urinary incontinence. What’s more, patients have to have a catheter for several days after the procedure. There can be long-term side effects after TURP such as dry orgasm, erectile dysfunction or incontinence.
Laser Resection of the Prostate
- TURP may be performed with a laser in procedures such as photoselective vaporization of the prostate (PVP) or holmium laser enucleation (HOLEP). This lessens the bleeding risks of traditional TURP, but, since prostate tissue is still removed, there can be tissue swelling and some discomfort during healing. A catheter is required after the procedure.
Robotic Surgery
- Ochsner urological surgeons also perform non-robotic minimally invasive surgeries, sometimes called endoscopic surgery, laparoscopic surgery, thoracoscopic surgery and “keyhole” surgery. These techniques offer patients many of the same benefits of robotic surgery.
The UroLift® System
The revolutionary UroLift® System is a proven, minimally invasive treatment that treats the signs of BPH. Hundreds of patients have been treated with the UroLift System by urologists at Ochsner Baptist and Ochsner Health Center – Metairie.
Cleared by the FDA in 2013, UroLift works by opening the urethra with tiny implants that work like tiebacks on a window curtain to hold the enlarged tissue out of the way. Unlike traditional treatment methods, there is no cutting, heating, or tissue ablation involved.
The UroLift System is the first and only BPH treatment that does not remove prostate tissue and does not negatively impact a man’s sexual function. Typically, patients return home the same day without a catheter.
This safe and effective minimally invasive procedure can relieve these bothersome symptoms without removing a part of the prostate or compromising sexual function. Plus, you won’t go home with a catheter. You can get your life back in days, not months with Ochsner.
Learn more about how the UroLift system works.
With the UroLift System, our patients experience:
- Rapid relief of BPH symptoms
- Fewer risks than traditional surgical procedures
- Preservation of sexual function
- No ongoing BPH medication side effects
- Return to normal activity in days not months
- Increased quality of life moving forward
Common UroLift side effects include light blood in the urine, some pain or discomfort when urinating, some increased urge to go and discomfort in the pelvis. These side effects typically resolve in two to four weeks.
More from Ochsner
Ochsner Baptist Offers UroLift® System to Treat Patients for Enlarged Prostate
For Referring Physicians
To refer patients for clinic appointments, get fast and easy access by calling our clinic referral line at 855-312-419. You can also fax us at 504-842-8416 or email clinicconcierge@ochsner.org.
