Fast prostate treatment makes it to public system

A simple procedure rolled out in a public hospital for the first time could bring faster relief to thousands of Kiwi men with enlarged prostates, according to a surgeon who has been performing the surgery for years.

Enlarged prostate – officially known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) – is a common condition in older men which can create pressure on the urethra, make it difficult to pass urine and lead to bladder infections and loss of bladder control.

About a third of all men have moderate to severe symptoms by age 60, according to the Mayo Clinic.

‘‘The traditional procedure we’ve been doing for about 100 years removes tissue from the prostate to get guys peeing, but it’s at least a night in hospital and makes guys worse in the short term,’’ Wellington urological surgeon Dr Jim Duthie said.

Thousands of these prostate resections were done each year: ‘‘I did three this morning,’’ Duthie said.

It meant numerous patients

were waiting for the procedure at any time, jostling for theatre space with men with prostate cancer.

But this month, Duthie performed a treatment known as ‘Urolift’ on patients in Wellington after Te Whatu Ora – Capital, Coast and Hutt Valley approved funding.

The simple surgery – the longest of which took Duthie 11 minutes – involves small implants being inserted to permanently hold the urinary passage open and allows men to return to work faster, Duthie

said. It also had no impact on sexual function.

‘‘They walk out of hospital with no catheter 90% of the time,’’ he said.

The procedure is not new – Duthie was the first surgeon to perform the surgery in New Zealand five years ago – but until now has only been available privately, at a cost of about $12,000, he said.

‘‘To have this for the first time in public is a real step forward for a lot of departments.’’

With patients able to go home the same day, fewer men would face cancellations due to bed shortages, he said.

The operation alone itself was also about $5000 cheaper than the traditional prostate resection surgery.

Palmerston North Hospital had also approved the surgery and Duthie was hopeful other regions would follow suit, in keeping with health reform goals to end the postcode lottery of care.

He stressed Urolift wasn’t right for everyone, but with early detection it would mean some did not need the more invasive resection.

An enlarged prostate before and after the Urolift procedure, which involves small implants being inserted into the prostate to hold the urethra open; at right, Dr Jim Duthie, the urological surgeon who performs the procedure, which is far less invasive, cheaper and easier than existing treatments.