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What is the prostate? A video with over two million views.
Why haven’t urologists embraced the GreenLight Laser for enlarged prostate?

Traditionally urologists have surgically treated an enlarged prostate associated with obstructive voiding symptoms by performing a TURP (transurethral resection of the prostate). When you do a TURP you don’t have to wear glasses (the GreenLight Laser glasses change the color of everything the surgeon sees and can be uncomfortable) and the action of the urologist’s fingers on the resectoscope has a direct effect on the resectoscope loop which does the removal of the obstructing prostate tissue. The TURP is one of the signature procedures that all urologists perform in residency and it is still considered the “gold standard” for the treatment of BPH.
Enter the GreenLight Laser-You have to wear the uncomfortable glasses which changes the color of everything (including blood-it is no longer red), the instrument you use is smaller than a resectoscope and so there is less volume of the irrigation fluid which affects visibility, the fiber does not cut like a TURP but vaporizes, the laser comes off at an angle (so unlike the resectoscope and TURP the action of the laser does not match the fingers and is an unnatural maneuver for the urologist accustomed to a TURP), at times because of the angle of the laser light goes away from the fiber and the urologist’s field of vision it is sometimes difficult to actually see where the laser is contacting the prostate, and finally because of the smaller instrument and as a result less irrigation fluid-any bleeding makes a much bigger difference in visibility than the same amount of bleeding with the TURP.
So…if the GreenLight is so “bad and difficult” why do some urologists-like yours truly- prefer it as their BPH surgical modality of choice? It takes less time to perform, there is less bleeding, the catheter can come out sooner and it can be done almost exclusively on an out patient basis. For our practice, the ability to offer this procedure to our patients in our ambulatory surgery center represents a vast advantage in not having to go to the hospital and what that entails.
We do GreenLights all the time at our surgery center look forward introducing you to the procedure anytime. Contact us 24/7 and leave your number below and we’ll call you for the consultation. Below the contact form is an actual GreenLight procedure performed by Dr. McHugh if you want to see what the urologist sees.
The evolution the laser for the treatment of prostate enlargement. Northeast Ga Urological Assoc.
My dog Penelope has nothing to do with the laser of the prostate although dogs, males that is, have a prostate too. I just liked the “green” in the picture. She has just taken a swim to “get her stick” and is just “skakin it off.”
In regards to the evolution of the laser in the treatment of the prostate, the following article is very interesting and informative. It discusses PVP, which is the type of laser the GreenLight is, and other forms. In my thirty years of practicing urology, I have used about all of them. The GreenLight to me is by far the most beneficial in terms of ease of using, lack of bleeding, outpatient, and limited need for post operative catheter.
What’s on the horizon? Well there is now the Urolift and Rezum. One uses a device to pull the prostatic urethra apart and the other uses steam. I’ll talk more about them later.
Moma was right! Eat your vegetables and help your prostate.

Vegetable Intake May Reduce BPH
Urology – November 15, 2007 – Vol. 23 – No. 07
Article Reviewed: Fruit and Vegetable Consumption, Intake of Micronutrients, and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia in US Men. Rohrmann S, Giovannucci E, et al: Am J Clin Nutr; 2007; 85 (February): 523-529.