HOLEP: Good? Bad? Otherwise?

I had what I expected to be HoLEP on Thursday June 30 and was informed moments before surgery that the laser used was Thulium not Holmium and that it was a step up in quality. You can Google both for comparison. At that point I did not question and proceeded. Three hour surgery, prostate noted as "massive" 80 grams of morsulated material submitted for examination. No cancer. I was out of the hospital on Friday July 1 and due to weekend plus Monday holiday had catheter until July 6th. No fun with that schedule. Had some bleeding issues in the beginning and that has subsided. Now dealing with leakage and am told could last for months. After checking with other HoLEP patients this also is in the relm of "normal" outcome. Of course some are better, all heal differently. As has been mentioned the key is to find a Doctor that has done this procedure hundreds of times. If I can be of further help let me know.

I notice  that "kenneth" has posted no less than three (all the same) lenghthy anti surgery rants as usual. Note that Urolift is not for all especially large prostates and the outcome is not 100% rosey.

As a eneral rule, I recommend starting with the procedures that are least invasive with the fewest side effects first. They are, PAE, Urolift and ReZum. Permanent side effects are rare with all three and most who are good candidates get considerable, acceptable relief from them. Its my feeling that you can always go for more invasive surgical options if those three don't work or you aren't a good candidate.

HoLep seems to be the best of the surgical options, but it will leave you with RE, which many feel makes sex permanently enjoyable. Recovery is long, often with weeks to months of leakage. It's way better than TURP, but I suggest that you investigate/try all of the three less invasive options before going under the knife.

I had my Holep carried out 2 years ago in Cambridge. It was done privately but is available on the NHS in Cambridge by the same excellent consultant. I have to say it has been a total success for me. The only after-effect and expected was retrograde ejaculation but as I was producing very little anyway it has made no difference. I had very little pain after the first couple of days apart from urination stinging for the first week. My flow rate remains excellent with no dribbling. For a few months I had very occasional spontaneous spotting but that stopped a year ago. My prostate produced some blood for 5 weeks despite the hospital saying it would last a few days. So, choose a good consultant with a lot of experience and go for it. I am so pleased with the operation and the surgeon. BTW my prostate was around 130gm.