Aug 13, 2019
BPH, or an enlarged prostate, affects about 50 percent of men between the ages of 50 and 60, causing symptoms ranging from frequent urination to a weak urine stream. Dr. Daniel Marchalik discusses GreenLight laser surgery, a minimally invasive treatment for BPH.
TRANSCRIPT
Intro: MedStar Washington Hospital Center presents Medical Intel where our healthcare team shares health and wellness insights and gives you the inside story on advances in medicine.
Host: We’re speaking with Dr. Daniel Marchalik, the Director of Ambulatory Urologic Surgery at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. Thank you for joining us, Dr. Marchalik.
Dr. Marchalik: Thanks so much. Happy to be here.
Host: Today we’re discussing a newer treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH, which often is referred to as an enlarged prostate. This treatment is called greenlight laser surgery. Dr. Marchalik, could start by explaining what greenlight laser surgery is and how it works?
Dr. Marchalik: Yeah, of course. So, as a lot of listeners know, BPH is a really common issue. In fact, we know that half of all men in their 6th decade of life have signs of an enlarged prostate. And so, as a result, this is something that we have to deal with very often and treat very, very often. And there are different ways of treating BPH. Traditionally, BPH has been treated surgically by shaving the prostate down using an electrode that can actually shave it from the inside. Recently, in the past 5 to 10 years, we’ve started to use something called the greenlight laser to do a photo-vaporization of the prostate. Now what that means is that we use a laser to actually vaporize the prostate tissue. The greenlight laser is a really interesting device because the laser itself is absorbed by the hemoglobin molecules - those are the red cells...red blood cells. What that allows us to do is to actually make the tissue vaporize without causing as much bleeding as other ways of treating BPH.
Host: What’s the process in which you diagnose a patient with BPH, or enlarged prostate, and who are the best candidates for greenlight laser surgery?
Dr. Marchalik: The diagnosis is really usually made by symptoms. So, when somebody comes in and they complain of having difficulty urinating, waking up at night to urinate, feeling like their stream has gotten weaker, feeling like they’re always rushing to the bathroom - basically, like the guys in the commercial who are going to the baseball game and they always have to sit on the aisle because they need to know where the bathroom is at all times. Or, the guys that are running in and out of meetings because they feel like they’re just not going to make it through the whole meeting without peeing. Those are the symptoms that we tend to see with BPH. Now, we do questionnaires to try to get an objective measure of exactly how much this is bothering them. We can also measure the flow of their urine to see how strong their stream is. And, if we then diagnose them with issues urinating, we then go on and measure the size of their prostate to objectively demonstrate that it is enlarged and sometimes even look inside the prostate using a small camera called a cystoscope. Every patient is obviously going to be different. But, the general approach is to first establish what the symptoms are that the patient is experiencing, and then to get some objective data, like the size of the prostate and the way that the prostate looks.
Host: What is recovery typically like following greenlight laser surgery?
Dr. Marchalik: The big difference between a greenlight laser surgery and the traditional surgery called a TURP, a transurethral resection of the prostate, which is the way that prostates used to be treated more in the past and still are treated today, is that the greenlight laser surgery could be done as an outpatient, meaning it’s in and out surgery. The big difference there is that you don’t have to spend the night in the hospital. And, that means that the recovery tends to be a little bit smoother. Generally, patients who undergo a greenlight laser photo-vaporization of the prostate get sent home with a catheter that they can either remove themselves the next day or come back in to the hospital and we can remove it for them. Most patients will immediately see a difference in their stream. What I mean by that is that patients who have really struggled to try to push the urine out or felt like their urine just doesn’t tend to flow the way that it used to when they were younger, will often experience the return of that type of force right away, and so they might be able to see the results immediately. Now, of course, because they had the surgery and because their prostate was shaved down, that means that they need to abstain from things like heavy lifting and exercise, cycling, for the next four weeks or so to prevent them from developing bleeding from that raw area in the prostate.
Host: Are there any risks involved with greenlight laser surgery?
Dr. Marchalik: Of course. As with any surgery, there are inherent risks associated with anesthesia. But for the surgery itself, there are some things that tend to be risks for the procedure. For example, about three-quarters of guys who undergo this procedure will develop something called retrograde ejaculation. It means that when they ejaculate, nothing comes out or less comes out. Now, it doesn’t change their ability to have erections. It doesn’t change their ability to have an orgasm. But it does change the actual experience because there is no ejaculate. About 3 to 5 percent of guys can develop some leakage. It’s called incontinence, meaning when they sneeze or cough or do strenuous activity, some urine might leak out. For a lot of guys, it’s just a few drops and it tends to be transient, meaning it goes away after a few weeks. But there’s a small subgroup of guys that can develop a more long-lasting issue with the urinary leakage. Of course, there’s always a risk that the procedure doesn’t actually help someone, meaning even though we shave the prostate down, they have some underlying problems with their bladder that prevent their bladder from squeezing as well as it should. And in those cases, the procedure might help them but maybe not as much as we would hope that it would.
Host: When speaking of risks, is there usually any hesitancy from patients and how do you walk them through, you know, why maybe they shouldn't be hesitant?
Dr. Marchalik: It’s funny that you use the word “hesitancy” because urinary hesitancy is why the guys come to see me in the first place. But, I think that’s a good question. And, I think that as with any surgery, you have to remember that each individual patient is going to be different. There are people for whom this surgery is not ideal. For example, if somebody comes to me and they say, “I want a procedure for my BPH, but we want to have some more children.” And, for a patient like this, this is not a good procedure because the retrograde ejaculation certainly puts you at risk of not being able to have children anymore. Now, there are people that say, “Hey, I really want a procedure, but I can’t go under anesthesia. I’m scared of anesthesia. This is not something that I’m willing to do.” This is not a good procedure for them because this does require anesthesia. There are other people that come to me and they’ll say, “What type of procedure can I do that I know is going to last more than a few months or that has a lot of research behind it?” And then we talk about this procedure because I think this is a very good option for them. There are things that give people pause. For example, the retrograde ejaculation and the risk...the need to have a catheter for one day afterwards. But a lot of times, when we actually talk through this, this is not something that is an issue for most people that I see.
Host: What makes greenlight laser surgery superior t o other treatment options?
Dr. Marchalik: The biggest advantage that I see for a greenlight laser TURP is the fact that this could be done as an outpatient, meaning a patient gets to go home at the end of the procedure and spend the night at home versus the hospital. However, we still see the same benefits with greenlight laser TURPs as we see with regular TURPs, meaning we still see the same effectiveness of the procedure. Guys get the same urinary function that they have with the regular TURP with this greenlight laser TURP. They have the same side effect profile as a regular TURP. And, the same risk of having to need a surgery down the line. So, by that I mean that it is really a comparable procedure, just as good, but the risks are lower and there’s no need to spend the night in the hospital.
Host: Is there anything patients should do beforehand to prepare for greenlight laser surgery?
Dr. Marchalik: There’s nothing that they need to do in particular that’s different from any other surgery. And, of course, those instructions will differ by each individual patient. But usually it means having nothing to eat or drink after midnight and this is the same approach as they would for any other surgery. The big difference is they don’t need to pack a bag to bring with them to spend the night in the hospital.
Host: Why is MedStar Washington Hospital Center the best place to receive treatment for BPH through treatments like greenlight laser surgery?
Dr. Marchalik: We have a very good interdisciplinary team that discusses each individual patient. And, we have a good track record of performing this surgery that is an advanced greenlight laser surgery, including for some people who have larger prostates. Traditionally, the greenlight laser TURP has been reserved for smaller prostates, but we’ve been doing it with great success on guys with larger prostates and we’ve had really good patient outcomes. And, of course, we are very committed to our patients, which means that we continue to see them in our clinic and to make sure that their results are not just good successes initially but are durable and they maintain the good urinary function throughout the years afterwards.
Host: Could you share a story where a patient received an optimal outcome through greenlight laser surgery?
Dr. Marchalik: Yeah. I had a patient recently who had been in and out of the emergency room multiple times over the span of several months. He kept having difficulty urinating. It’s called urinary retention, where basically no urine comes out. It could be an extremely uncomfortable and extremely painful condition. So, he kept coming in to the emergency room, would have a catheter placed, the catheter would be removed, he would be OK for a few days, and then it would return. Leading up to it, he’s a guy who was in a lot of business meetings and he said that this was starting to really interfere with his job. He kept having to leave meetings early, he kept interrupting meetings because he had to rush to the bathroom. And, he said his quality of life just wasn’t what it used to be. He underwent this procedure and immediately, the next day when the catheter was removed, he saw a difference. He said that the stream was the way that it used to be when he was in his 20s, which I think is a pretty good endorsement. A few weeks went by and some of the initial urgency that he felt after the procedure, as he was going through the healing phase, went away. I saw him in clinic a few months afterwards and he told me about how he can now sit through a meeting with no problem. He feels like he can go to a baseball game and he can sit through all 9 innings and it’s not a big issue for him which, honestly, I don’t know a lot of guys who could sit through 9 innings without having to go to the bathroom, but I guess he’s not one of them.
Host: Thanks for joining us today, Dr. Marchalik.
Dr. Marchalik: Thanks so much for having me. My pleasure.
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