ABSTRACT

Several methods of surgical treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia have been described. Transurethral resection of the prostate, which was first performed in 1932, still remains the gold standard for surgical treatment. However, beside the risk of bleeding and TUR syndrome, transurethral resection of the prostate has some disadvantages such as need for anesthesia, hospitalization and prolonged catheterization. Because of these disadvantages, minimally invasive surgical methods have come to order more commonly, especially within the last decade. Minimally invasive methods include transurethral microwave therapy, transurethral needle ablation, laser treatments, transurethral ethanol ablation of the prostate, and high-intensity focused ultrasound. These techniques provided significant decreases in the risk of bleeding and TUR syndrome. They are superior to transurethral resection of the prostate in terms of hospitalization and catheterization time. In addition, short-term results of some techniques are comparable to transurethral resection of the prostate. However, because of the fact that the efficacy and safety of transurethral resection of the prostate have been proven for the purposes of long-term results, there is no any minimally invasive surgical method can take the place of transurethral resection of the prostate. In this review, minimal invasive surgical methods were evaluated in the light of current literature.