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Why it's done
By Mayo Clinic staffTUMT is a treatment to ease urinary symptoms and complications resulting from blocked urine flow, such as:
- A frequent, urgent need to urinate
- Difficulty starting urination
- Slow (prolonged) urination
- Increased frequency of urination at night (nocturia)
- Stopping and starting again while urinating
- The feeling you can't completely empty your bladder
- Urinary tract infections
TUMT is not done to treat prostate cancer.
Other enlarged prostate procedures include transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP), transurethral needle ablation (TUNA), transurethral incision of the prostate (TUIP), laser surgery such as holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP) or laser photovaporization of the prostate (PVP), and open prostatectomy.
TUMT improves urinary flow in some, but not all, men. This procedure is generally more effective than are medications at improving urine flow, but less effective than is surgery (TURP or open prostatectomy). TUMT is less involved than surgery is and has a lower risk of side effects than do the more-invasive surgeries.
Only men with prostates of a certain size and shape can benefit from TUMT. It works best for men who have a moderately enlarged prostate. It may not be effective if your prostate has an enlarged middle lobe that grows upward into your bladder. In such cases, the microwave antenna may not produce enough energy to reach the part of your prostate blocking urine flow.
In the long term, surgery is more effective than is TUMT for relieving urinary symptoms. But TUMT has several advantages over surgery:
- It's done without an overnight hospital stay (on an outpatient basis).
- It's less likely to cause erectile dysfunction or other sexual side effects.
- It doesn't require general or spinal anesthesia.
- It has a lower risk of causing heavy bleeding.
- It may be a safer alternative if surgery isn't a good choice for you because of certain other health problems.
- Fitzpatrick JM, et al. Minimally invasive and endoscopic management of benign prostatic hyperplasia. In: Wein AJ, et al. Campbell-Walsh Urology. 9th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/125743340-3/0/1445/91.html?tocnode=54305416&fromURL=91.html. Accessed Jan. 27, 2011.
- Guideline on the management of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Linthicum, MD. American Urological Association. http://www.auanet.org/content/guidelines-and-quality-care/clinical-guidelines.cfm?sub=bph. Accessed Jan. 27, 2011.
- d'Ancona FC. Nonablative minimally invasive thermal therapies in the treatment of symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia. Current Opinion in Urology. 2008;18:21.
- Cunningham GR, et al. Surgical and other invasive therapies of benign prostatic hyperplasia. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 2, 2011.
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