An announcement was released this August 2023, from Eleos Specialist Hospital, Umuahia, Abia State in Nigeria, stating that the hospital's Urology department, will commmence the use of Bipolar Enucleation of the Prostate to treat cases of benign enlarged prostate gland (Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia). This means, this new surgical technique, will be used when treating cases of enlarged prostate glands not due to cancer. The news was discussed in the press by Dr P.E Ngwu, a Consultant Urologist and Laparoscopic Surgeon at Eleos Specialist Hospital.
What makes Bipolar enucleation of the prostate, for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia, a ground breaking treatment? This procedure reduces the amount of blood loss during surgical treatment of enlarged prostate glands. The indwelling catheter placed in the patient's urethra, needs to stay in for approximately a day, meaning men who successfully have this procedure, can go home the next day or two in the absence of complications.
How is the procedure done? Typically the patient is put under general anaesthesia or spinal anaesthesia is administered. If a Transurethral Enucleation is done, there will be no incisions made at all on the patient.
Another method uses robots to make small incisions at the level of the bladder neck.
Using non-medical terms to describe the procedure, the Bipolar enucleator device is used to scope out the prostate and it enters the bladder space. From there a device called a Morcellator, is passed through the urethra, cuts up the prostate material that is in the bladder, and then removes it out the bladder through the urethra.
Who is the ideal person for this procedure? The ideal patient for bipolar enucleation will have a larger prostate, usually over 80 mL in size, or be in urinary retention.
The risk of doing the surgery on men with prostate enlargenent that is small, is that there is a high chance of scar formation either at the junction of the bladder and prostate, or inside the urethra.
Please note this article does not constitute a medical consultation or recommendation. Please make an appointment to see a Urologist and Laparscopic Surgeon, if you have BPH and would want to have this procedure. Thank you.
Citation for illustration: Illustration of procedure taken from researchgate.net article, Comparative Analysis between Transurethral Enucleation with Bipolar and Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: Consecutive Case. Publised December 2022. Article by Jeong Hyun Cho, Chun Ha Hwang,
Jong Hyun Yoon, Joung Won Sung, Woong Na et al.