Southern Cross Wellington Hospital Introduces Innovative Procedure For Prostate Treatment

Wellington men will no longer have to travel out of the
region for a new laser procedure to treat enlarged prostate
glands.

Urological surgeon Jim Duthie has completed
the first Thulium laser enucleation (ThuLEP) procedure with
morcellation on a patient at Southern Cross Wellington
Hospital.

The procedure
is the most advanced treatment for an enlarged prostate,
medically known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a
condition in which the prostate gets bigger as men
age.

Mr Duthie says the ThuLEP procedure is especially
beneficial for men with larger prostates.

“If you
have a small prostate, you can just cut out a bit of tissue
and pull it out of the bladder. But the real benefit of this
is in the big prostates.

“You can remove a much
larger amount of tissue with a laser and then you put the
morcellator into the bladder and it chews up the tissue into
tiny bits and sucks it out.”

This was the first time
Mr Duthie, who teaches laser prostatectomy around the
country, had done the procedure at a private hospital in
Wellington.

Because Southern Cross Wellington Hospital
invested in a morcellator device and laser, it means that
any man being treated there for an enlarged prostate will
have the new ThuLEP procedure, benefitting from the
investment and Mr Duthie’s expertise.

“Before now,
the guys with bigger prostates either had to leave town or
have a standard operation, so a cut in the tummy and a
catheter for a week afterwards and it’s not as easy a
recovery,” he says.

“This is much less invasive
and has minimal downtime.”

Mr Duthie says 50% of men
aged 50 have some symptoms of enlarged prostate and this
increases with age, so it is something that happens to just
about all men as they get older.

“Not all of them
will need surgery, but it’s really common and just about
all men start getting symptoms at some stage. This means
that we now have more options to tailor treatment to the
individual.”

During the
procedure

During a ThuLEP procedure, the
patient is typically placed under a general anaesthetic. The
surgeon inserts a scope through the urethra to access the
prostate.

Using the laser, the surgeon carefully
dissects and removes the prostate tissue. The removed tissue
is then pushed through the bladder and later extracted using
a morcellator, a mechanical suction device.

Mr Duthie
says the first operation went smoothly, taking just over an
hour to complete, and the patient is recovering
well.

Southern Cross Wellington Hospital Interim
General Manager Alison Hegarty says laser enucleation
surgeries are an important addition to procedures the
hospital provides.

“Having them done here makes it
so much easier for people to access treatment in their own
area and focus on their health and recovery closer to
home.”

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