Laser ablation for bladder outlet obstruction available at St. John's

Mark Walterskirchen, MD, FACS,  Eric Guilliams, M.D., Jeff Johnson, MD, FACS, and Robert D. Johnson, MD, FACS, at St. John’s Clinic-Urology-Fremont are now performing laser ablation of the prostate using the Greenlight (PVP) or the Holmium lasers (HoLAP) as an alternative to transurethral resection (TURP) for treatment of bladder outlet obstruction. 

TURP is still considered our “gold standard” of treatment. There are, however, clinical situations for which one treatment is favored over the other.

Older laser technologies heated prostate tissue but then left necrotic tissue behind to gradually slough off the prostatic urethra. This resulted in prolonged healing and long delays before improvement in voiding symptoms occurred. The newer laser technologies more quickly vaporize the prostate tissue, enhancing healing and symptom improvement. 

The Greenlight and Holmium lasers vary slightly in depth of penetration of the laser energy.  Surgeon preference and prostate gland size determine which laser is used. A clinical setting in which both HoLAP and PVP offer an advantage over TURP is the patient on an anticoagulant in whom the anticoagulant needs to be restarted as soon as possible after surgery.

The incidence of serious post operative bleeding is much less when laser technology is used in the type of patient. The other advantages of using laser technology are the potential to have the procedure performed as an outpatient and with less catheter time.

St. John's Clinic-Urology-Fremont is pleased to offer patients this advancement in the treatment of BPH. We are located at 1965 S. Fremont, Suite 370, on St. John's Hospital campus.

Please call 417-820-0300 for more information or to refer a patient for this or other urology procedures.