BPH therapy: how to find one’s way through the maze?
Reviewed by Arun K Sharma

This communication is from the Young Academic Urologists (YAU) group of the European Association of Urologists (EAU). A purpose-built questionnaire of current practice was sent to 2000 members, of which 637 responded (68% were aged 50 or younger). Alpha blockers and 5-alpha reductase inhibitors (5-ARI) were common medical treatments. Results in regards to surgical techniques were displayed in a useful table format, revealing that, amongst the respondents, transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) remains the standard procedure in Europe while just over 90% used laser techniques in their practice – holmium laser (44%), Greenlight laser (28.4%), Thulium YAG (18%). The authors concluded that 30% of members of the EAU responded and that there is growing interest in laser procedures for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) following randomised controlled trials showing that holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP) and photovapourisation of the prostate (PVP) are as good as TURP. Of course, surgeons’ experience, training and the cost of laser delivery systems will play a major role in the use of these techniques (the breakdown of costs was not given in this paper). The message of this short and sharp article will be of much use to surgeons, theatre managers and local commissioning bodies.

Surgical management of benign prostatic obstruction: current practice and attitudes in Europe. Thiruchelvam N.
NEUROUROLOGY AND URODYNAMICS
2015;34:395-6.