Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate versus Laparoscopic Transcapsular Prostatectomy: Perioperative Results and Three-Month Follow-Up

Abstract

Purpose: Symptomatic benign prostatic hypertrophy greater than 70 cc used to be treated by invasive procedures. Holmium laser enucleation of prostate (HoLEP) and laparoscopic transcapsular prostatectomy (LTP) are two techniques whose efficacy has been demonstrated compared to standard onesmore invasive standard procedures. The objective was to evaluate and compare perioperative results from these two techniques for the treatment of benign prostatic hypertrophy greater than 70 cc. Methods: This was a non-randomized retrospective study comparing the HoLEP technique with LTP. From January 2012 to January 2015, 39 patients had HoLEP and 28 had LTP. Perioperative outcomes, complications, and functional results at 3 months were compared. A chi-2 squared test and Student's t test were used for statistical analysis. Results: In multivariate analysis, there was a statistically significant difference in favor of HoLEP for the duration of catheterization (1.9 vs. 3.7 days; p = 0.004) and the average length of stay (2.8 vs. 4.0 days, p = 0.010). There was a trend towards a greater decrease in postoperative hemoglobin levels in LTP (138 vs. 218 g/l; p = 0.082), which was statistically significant in univariate analysis (p = 0.033). Other endpoints were not significant, particularly the enucleated prostate volume compared to the total prostate volume (61.8 vs. 68.4%; p = 0.319) and postoperative complications. Conclusion: There was no increased morbidity for LTP compared to the HoLEP technique. However, the HoLEP technique appeared to be a less invasive technique, reducing the duration of catheterization, blood loss, and the average length of stay while maintaining good efficacy for the enucleated prostate volume.