Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a common urological condition in middle-aged and older men, characterized by a decline in quality of life. The situation can become more serious when accompanied by bladder stones. Therefore, it's important to understand the condition and choose appropriate treatment to restore a patient's healthy daily life.
The prostate is a walnut-sized organ found only in men that tends to gradually enlarge with age. This is called BPH, and it's a major factor that makes urination difficult. When urine cannot be discharged smoothly, the possibility of bladder stones forming also increases.
The problem occurs when the prostate becomes excessively large. While the average prostate size is known to be about 20g, there are cases where it's 4-5 times larger. When confirmed through ultrasound examination, one can observe the enlarged prostate pushing into the bladder.
In such cases, HoLEP (Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate) surgery is effective. The biggest advantage of HoLEP surgery is that it can simultaneously resolve BPH and bladder stones. Holmium laser shows excellent effectiveness in removing hyperplastic prostate tissue and simultaneously crushing and removing bladder stones. HoLEP surgery using holmium laser can break stones into small pieces for natural discharge, making it particularly suitable for BPH patients with accompanying stones. For this reason, post-surgical patient satisfaction is high and urination problems are often effectively resolved.
Interestingly, however, not all urination problems are due to BPH. Sometimes frequency and other urination symptoms appear even when prostate size is not large. This may be due to other causes such as urethral stricture. Urethral stricture refers to a condition where the urethra narrows, causing difficulty in urine discharge. Laser is also used in treating urethral stricture. The laser is used to widen the narrowed urethral area, and a stent is inserted to maintain the widened state.
In a recent case, good results were achieved by widening a urethra that had narrowed to the size of a needle with laser and then inserting a stent. The peak flow rate improved from 4.1ml/sec before surgery to 37.8ml/sec after surgery—nearly a 10-fold increase. Before surgery, the urethra was so narrow that urine discharge speed was significantly slow, but it greatly improved after surgery. Considering that the average peak flow rate for adult males is reported to be 15-20ml/sec, this is a greatly improved figure.
Dr. Min Seung-ki of Goldman Urology Clinic Jamsil stated: "Treatment methods for urination disorders such as BPH continue to develop, which is part of efforts to provide better treatment to patients. If you're suffering from urination symptoms, don't delay and visit a urology clinic for precise examination and customized treatment."