Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
What you can expect
By Mayo Clinic staffTransurethral needle ablation (TUNA) takes less than an hour. It's usually done as an outpatient procedure, which means you'll go home the day of the procedure. A local anesthetic helps to control pain, and you'll probably have intravenous (IV) sedation. With IV sedation, you'll be drowsy but conscious.
Shortly before your treatment, you will be asked to urinate so your bladder's empty. You may be given an enema to clear your bowels and rectum.
During the procedure
Your doctor will put numbing gel inside the tube that carries urine from your bladder (urethra), and he or she may numb the prostate area with an injection given through your rectum. A long, narrow visual instrument called a cytoscope is then passed through the opening of your penis into your urethra.
Once your doctor makes sure the cytoscope is in the right place, he or she will insert two adjustable needles into your prostate through the end of the cytoscope. Then, radio waves pass through them to heat and destroy prostate tissue blocking urine flow. You may feel a little pain or discomfort.
After the procedure
Follow these steps after your procedure.
- Don't take blood thinning medications until your doctor says it's okay.
- Don't do any strenuous activity, such as heavy lifting, for three to five days.
- Don't have sex until your doctor says it's okay. For most men, this is a week or two after the procedure.
- Don't drive for the rest of the day after your procedure.
You may need to have a tube inside your penis to allow urine to pass from your bladder (urinary catheter) after the procedure. If you're unable to urinate after the tube is removed, your doctor may give you catheters you can insert on your own a few times a day until you can urinate again.
Ask your doctor about any specific restrictions or other steps you need take after the procedure. Most men resume routine activities and sexual functioning in a week or two. Your doctor may prescribe antibiotics to prevent infection and medications to reduce pain.
Common side effects of TUNA can include:
- Blood in your urine (hematuria) for a few days after the procedure.
- Irritating urinary symptoms such as painful urination, difficulty urinating, or an urgent or frequent need to urinate. These symptoms can last for up to a couple weeks after the procedure.
- Prostatitis — inflammation of the prostate that can cause irritating urinary symptoms.
- AUA guideline on the management of benign prostatic hyperplasia: Diagnosis and treatment recommendations. Baltimore, Md.: American Urological Association. http://www.auanet.org/content/guidelines-and-quality-care/clinical-guidelines/main-reports/bph-management/chapt_1_appendix.pdf. Accessed March 12, 2009.
- Cunningham GR, et al. Surgical and other invasive therapies of benign prostatic hyperplasia. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed March 12, 2009.
- d'Ancona FC. Nonablative minimally invasive thermal therapies in the treatment of symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia. Current Opinion in Urology. 2008;18:21.
- Bouza, C, et al. Systematic review and meta-analysis of transurethral needle ablation in symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia. BMC Urology. 2006;6:14.
- 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 March 12, 2009.
