Tag: enlarged prostate surgery

Categories
Enlarged Prostate

What is TURP?

Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) was the main treatment method for benign prostate hyperplasia for almost 100 years.

Over the past few weeks, we have taken a look at the history regarding the diagnosis and treatment of an enlarged prostate.

We started the series by covering the doctors and anatomists of the late 16th century who contributed to the identification of the prostate itself and the condition of an enlarged prostate.

We also took a look at some of the early attempts at treating the enlarged prostate, which involved a lot of trial and error- and there was a lot of error.

However, as we covered throughout the series, through continued research, medical advancements, and time, treatment methods for an enlarged prostate were greatly improved. This is all thanks to the many physicians that paved the way for successful prostate treatment through medical innovations in not only the methods of surgical procedures, but the tools used as well.

These tools, some of which are still used today, led to safer and more effective ways to treat an enlarged prostate.

All of this research and development, trial and error, invention, and innovation, led to a prostate procedure that became the gold standard for treating an enlarged prostate for many years. This procedure, which is still done today, is known as Transurethral Resection of the Prostate, also known by the acronym TURP.

Transurethral resection of the prostate was the main treatment method for benign prostate hyperplasia from the early 1900s, to the late 1990s.

In our next article, we will take a further look at the Transurethral Resection of the Prostate.

We will cover what it is, how it’s performed, and its effect on relieving the symptoms of an enlarged prostate.

We will also look at the side effects and risks of this procedure, and compare it to that of the non-invasive and increasingly popular treatment for BPH called Prostate Artery Embolization.

Categories
Enlarged Prostate

Early Treatment Methods

By the late 1800s, physicians found a link between prostate size and a man's age, as well as between prostate growth and testosterone.

By the late 1800s, physicians had found a link between prostate size and a man’s age, as well as between prostate growth and testosterone.

This discovery set the foundation for developing various treatment methods in order to relieve the uncomfortable symptoms caused by an enlarged prostate.

Though it wasn’t until centuries later that the more effective treatments that we use today, such as transurethral resection of the prostate, medications, and prostate artery embolization, became available- These procedures owe a debt of gratitude to the many physicians that came before, who opened the path to finding the best treatment for what would later be known as benign prostate hyperplasia.

Unfortunately part of this journey involved making mistakes along the way.

One notable example is a procedure performed by some physicians in the 1800s who thought that the condition of an enlarged prostate could be cured by removing the testicles. Yikes.

Fortunately, this method fell out of practice shortly thereafter. And, fortunately, many other physicians did not use this technique, and instead, continued to study the enlarged prostate and the impact that it can have on a man’s health. All in an attempt to find the most effective and efficient way to treat the condition.

One of the turning points in the development of prostate procedures to treat an enlarged prostate, took place in 1891.

A physician in Arizona had found a way to treat the prostate condition by removing prostate tissue through an incision made in the perineum—the area between the scrotum and rectum. This would later be called a perineal prostatectomy.

Following this breakthrough procedure, all sorts of other prostate surgeries began to pop up.

Eugene Fuller, a New York City Physician, developed the  “suprapubic procedure.”

The suprapubic procedure is the surgical removal of the prostate through an incision made in the lower abdomen and bladder.

The suprapubic procedure showed promising results and opened the door for another physician, Hampton Young to get even better results by using the same perineal incision to remove the prostatic mass.

Dr. Young, a urologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital also discovered that if he pushed the gland upward from the rectum, it could ease and complete the excision, making the removal more complete.

Hampton Young went on to become known as the “Father of American Urology,” and continued to refine and perfect his technique for treating an enlarged prostate.

In our next article, we will continue looking at the history of treating benign prostate hyperplasia, by diving deeper into the impact that Dr. Hampton Young had on the treatment of it, as well as take a look at the advancements made by the many physicians that followed.