Green Light Laser Prostate Surgery

As a person ages, there are many changes that take place in the body. In males, one of the most affected parts of the body with progressive aging is the prostate gland. This is a tiny walnut sized gland that is present around the urethra and is seen just below the urinary bladder. Due to its location, when this gland enlarges, either due to benign prostate hyperplasia or due to prostate cancer, it leads to a lot of symptoms, the most important one being difficulty in urination. Thus, to relieve oneself of this situation, there are many surgical options available today. One of the surgical options that is gaining popularity by the day is prostate laser surgery with the help of Green Light laser. Green Light Laser therapy is a new advancement in the field of prostate surgeries when it comes to partial or total prostatectomies. This is a surgical option that is slightly older than robotic prostate surgery. Given below are details regarding what exactly is green light laser prostate surgery, how it is performed and what are its advantages.

What is Green Light Laser Prostate Surgery?

This procedure is performed with the help of a small laser fiber. This laser fiber is inserted into the urethra through a cystoscope. This laser fiber, once it reaches the prostate, then delivers high intensity laser light. The heat in these laser beams is very high and so, it tends to heat up the prostate tissue due to which it vaporizes. This process is done till the enlarged prostate tissue that is obstructive in nature is removed or till the entire prostate is removed (depending on whether it is a partial or total prostatectomy).

Advantages of Green Light Laser Prostate Surgery

• Since this procedure is quick, there is usually no need for the patient to stay overnight in the hospital. Thus, the surgery recovery time is fairly less as compared to traditional surgery.
• With this prostate surgery option, although ideally, there is no need for catheterization, in some cases, like if the patient is very weak, he may need a catheter placed to help in urine passage. However, this catheter can be removed once the patient is comfortable with passing urine, which is usually within a span of a day or so.
• One of the biggest pros of this surgery is that for people that came with the complaint of an enlarged prostate leading to difficulty in urination, there is almost an instant improvement seen. This is in contrast to traditional open surgery, which may require a long time to show results.
• As in this procedure, there is barely any loss of blood, this is the preferred surgery option for people that are very weak or for very old men.
• Although there are a few possible side effects of this surgery, it is said that they are very mild. This is because there is a less than 1% chance of sexual dysfunction or erectile dysfunction after this procedure. This is because unlike an open surgery, in this procedure, the nerves and vessels present around the bladder are not at risk due to the highly precise nature of this surgery.

As is the case with any surgical procedure, there are a few possible side effects or after effects of this surgery. These include blood in urine or hematuria, incontinence after prostate surgery, slight burning sensation during urination and retrograde ejaculation. As there are certain risk factors involved with this surgery, if a person is opting for this procedure only because he has a slightly enlarged and non-cancerous prostate, then it is best to instead try out other conservative methods of treatment, like watchful waiting and drug therapy.