prostatectomy

Surgical removal of the prostate gland. In many men over the age of 60 the prostate gland enlarges, causing obstruction to the urethra. This causes the bladder to swell with retained urine, leaving the sufferer more prone to infection of the urinary tract.

The treatment of choice is transurethral resection of the prostate, in which the gland is removed by passing an endoscope (slender optical instrument) up the urethra and using diathermy to burn away the prostatic tissue. This procedure has now largely replaced ‘open’ prostatectomy, in which the prostate is removed via an incision in the abdomen.

A laser system that passes a probe through the wall of the urethra into the prostate can be used in cases of non-cancerous prostate enlargement. This can remove a larger volume of cells than the electrical probe system, and as the dead cells remain in the body rather than the urethra there is less risk of infection.