For many men, an enlarged prostate is one common side effect of aging. For some, this change begins around age 40 — and about half of the male population experience this condition by age 60.
Often, this change doesn’t lead to any significant issues. However, some men may experience sleep disruptions due to the need to use the bathroom frequently at night. You may also develop other urinary problems, including the inability to empty your bladder fully.
If you’re experiencing the signs of an enlarged prostate, it helps to know what’s going on. Jose Silva Rivera, MD, a urologist at AdventHealth Apopka, is explaining helpful tips and treatment options.
What Is Aquablation?
Removing obstructing tissue via surgery or laser procedures has traditionally been the most common form of treatment for persistent moderate to severe symptoms. Though helpful, the use of heat does bring risks, including erectile dysfunction.
One option to reduce certain risks is Aquablation. This minimally invasive robotic approach uses heat-free technology to remove a precise amount of tissue with a jet of water — no physical incision required.
What Is BPH?
The prostate is a ping-pong ball-sized gland that makes a fluid that forms part of semen. The prostate surrounds the urethra, the tube that carries urine out of the bladder.
“The technical term for an enlarged prostate is ‘benign prostatic hyperplasia,’ or BPH,” explains Dr. Silva Rivera. “It’s called ‘benign’ because it’s not cancerous.” However, it can cause problems. According to the National Institute on Aging, prostate problems include the following:
- Blood in urine or semen
- Dribbling of urine
- Frequent pain or stiffness in the lower back, hips, pelvic or rectal area or upper thighs
- Frequent urge to urinate
- Need to get up many times during the night to urinate
- Painful ejaculation
- Pain or burning urination
These symptoms could also be warning signs of prostate cancer, so getting them checked out is important. Even if cancer is ruled out, you may still want to pursue symptom relief. That’s where Aquablation can help.
How Does Aquablation Work?
So, how does Aquablation work? Its name provides a clue: It combines “aqua,” or water, with “ablation,” the surgical removal of tissue.
The process starts by mapping out the area needing treatment using detailed images from an ultrasound. “Aquablation therapy is the only procedure that gives a surgeon the ability to view the entire prostate during treatment,” says Dr. Silva Rivera. “It allows the surgeon to map which parts of the prostate to remove and which parts to avoid, reducing risks of irreversible complications like ejaculatory dysfunction, erectile dysfunction and incontinence.”
Using this personalized map, your surgeon programs a robotic system to guide a waterjet directly to only the intended tissue.
“This treatment is tailor-made for each person, to fit the exact size of their prostate,” Dr. Silva Rivera, says of the procedure. “The whole procedure takes less than an hour — and its relative lack of side effects quickly made it an attractive alternative to regular surgery.”
The robot is autonomous (with oversight from your urologist), meaning once programmed, it acts independently, allowing for a precise and quick procedure — the treatment lasts only about five minutes. The longest part of the procedure involves taking pictures and deciding what to remove.
“Each procedure is unique based on the size and position of the prostate,“ says Dr. Silva Rivera. Aquablation is an option for most men with enlarged prostates. However, it isn’t recommended for men with prostate cancer or certain other bladder conditions.
Since Aquablation treatment is still relatively new, it includes a one-night hospital stay so patients can be observed overnight. Someday though, it may be offered in a same-day surgery center.
Helping You Return to Whole Health
Even though having an enlarged prostate isn’t life-threatening, whole-person health is our focus, so we take these quality-of-life concerns seriously. Aquablation may help you find relief while avoiding the risks of traditional surgery. Schedule an appointment today to learn more about Aquablation and find out if it might be right for you.
