The Urolift® Prostate Urethral Lift

The prostate urethral lift is a novel approach to relieve urinary symptoms such as frequency and difficulty of urination caused by an enlarged prostate. The Urolift® System treatment is a minimally invasive approach that lifts the enlarged prostate out of the way so it no longer blocks urine flow. Small implants are installed without surgery or cutting through the penis to hold open the prostate lobes.

The procedure

First the delivery instrument is used to compress the lateral lobes of the prostate and then the implant is delivered that essentially tacks the prostate tissue away from the opening of the urethra. No tissue is destroyed or removed and sexual function including erections and ejaculation is preserved.

  • Minimally invasive
  • Rapid symptom relief1,2
  • Minimal downtime1
  • Preserves sexual function3
  • Does not preclude other treatment options

Procedure Steps

Show me the data

The Urolift® has been studied for years in Europe and Australia and most recently in Canada and the US. All of these studies have shown reproducible positive results with minimal side effects. These side effects including mild bleeding, burning of urination and urgency to pee will resolve within 2 weeks.

UroLift® System Benefits Comparison

* Most common adverse events reported include hematuria, dysuria, micturition urgency, pelvic pain, and urge incontinence. Most symptoms were mild to moderate in severity and resolved within two to four weeks after the procedure.

Unique to this prostate treatment is the preservation of normal prostate function including preservation of ejaculation and erectile function. This is particularly important for our practice. Most patients were able to return to normal activity within 5 days with less than 3 days of missed work. This has obvious economic advantages over the more traditional prostate treatments. In addition the Urolift® procedure can be performed in the office with local anesthesia in less than 1 hour. In order to determine if a patient is a candidate for the Urolift® a prostate ultrasound and evaluation of urinary flow rate is performed. In addition a cystoscopy is necessary to evaluate the lobes of the prostate and to gauging the tolerance of the patient to a procedure under local anesthesia. Patients are provided with a 5 day regimen of antibiotic and anti-inflammatory medication as needed. Positive results have been significant with improvement of the force of the urinary stream, decreased frequency and urgency of urination. Patient’s quality of life is also improved with decreased nighttime urination. The procedure is FDA approved, has approved CPT coding and is reimbursed by many insurances including medicare. The Urolift® offers patients a rapid return to normal activities with remarkable relief of symptoms of enlarged prostate without sexual side effects. Really amazing!

References

  • Shore, Can J Urology 2014
  • Roehrborn, J Urology 2013 LIFT Study
  • McVary, J Sexual Medicine 2014
  • Chin, Urology 2012