About the Indigo Laser BPH Treatment

The Minimally Invasive Procedure
The Indigo Laser Advantages
The Indigo Laser Treatment Results

The Minimally Invasive Procedure
BPH treatment with the Índigo Laser System is called interstitial laser coagulation. It is a laser procedure used to treat BPH (enlarged prostate). In this minimally invasive procedure, a urologist threads a special Índigo fiber into a cystoscope (a tube) that goes through the urethra and into the prostate. The fiberoptic tip is carefully placed in the area targeted for treatment. Laser energy through the fiberoptic tip is then used to precisely destroy the enlarged part of the prostate. No cutting is involved at all.

The enlarged prostate tissue that is destroyed is absorbed naturally by the body. As the prostate shrinks (over a few weeks), pressure on the bladder and the urethra (the tube that carries urine from the bladder through the penis) is lessened. This decreases the symptoms of BPH.

Blocked prostatic urethra

Laser quickly and safely reduces a precise area of the enlarged prostate. Excess tissue is naturally absorbed by the body

Symptoms usually start to improve within 3 to 4 weeks. Symptoms typically continue to improve over 8 to 12 weeks

The treatment is typically an outpatient procedure, meaning patients are not usually required to stay overnight in the hospital. However, the procedure is now being performed in doctors' offices. BPH treatment with the Índigo Laser System can be completed in 30 minutes or less. And there are many choices of anesthesia available. These include general (where the patient is unconscious), spinal (where the patient has no feeling below a certain point on his body), and local (only the immediate area being treated is numbed). Choice of anesthesia will vary depending on the patient and the size of the prostate.

Patients must use a catheter (a tube inserted into the penis to allow for urination) until the swelling subsides. This shouldn't restrict activity. The catheter is usually removed within a week.

After enlarged prostate treatment with the Índigo Laser System:

• The body gradually absorbs the destroyed enlarged prostate tissue
• The prostate becomes smaller
• The urethra returns to its normal shape and size
• Urine flows more freely again

Patients generally begin to feel relief from BPH symptoms within weeks. Symptoms continue to improve over a period of several months.

Click the icon to see a Patient Video with information about treatment with the Índigo Laser System for symptoms of enlarged prostate (BPH) in RealVideo!   Note: You will need to have the RealPlayer plug-in to see this video (click on the icon at the bottom of this screen).

The Indigo Laser Treatment Advantages
 

Treatment with the Índigo Laser System offers several advantages over other enlarged prostate treatment options. Some of the most important benefits are listed below. To see a comparison of several selected BPH treatments, click here.

Benefits of BPH treatment with the Índigo Laser System:

• Actually reduces the size of the growing prostate instead of simply treating symptoms, as most medications do
• Usually eliminates the need for BPH medications and the related expense, inconvenience, possible side effects, and potential interactions with other medications
• Has been shown to have much lower incidence of side effects, such as incontinence and ejaculation problems, than TURP and other traditional surgeries
• Is more precise and controllable than microwave and other heat therapies, which can mean fewer complications and less damage to surrounding tissue
• Is also generally a viable treatment option for patients with metal implants in the hip and pelvic region, cardiac pacemakers, or defibrillators. These patients may not be eligible for microwave or radio-frequency therapies

The Results: A Less Invasive Treatment That Works
 

Most patients experience significant symptom relief after treatment with the Índigo Laser System.

Overall severity of symptoms decreased^1-3
The AUA symptom score test shows how severe a patient's symptoms are. It measures BPH symptoms, such as the number of times the patient wakes in the night to urinate, how many times the patient has not been able to wait to urinate, etc. In 3 different studies, this was used to measure the effectiveness of treatment with the Índigo Laser System. The 3 studies found that patients' symptom scores were an average of 64% lower.^1-3 (They had dropped an average of 12.4 points.)

Click here to take the test.

Urine flows more freely^1-3
Peak flow measures how quickly urine is moving through the urethra (the tube that carries urine from the bladder through the penis). When the urethra is blocked by an enlarged prostate, the flow is slower. Increased peak flow time means the blockage is improved. After enlarged prostate treatment with the Índigo Laser System, average peak flow rate had increased by 74%.^1-3

Less urine left in bladder after urinating²
PVR stands for Post-Void Retention or Residual. This is the amount of urine remaining in the bladder after urination. When the urethra is blocked by an enlarged prostate, urine gets trapped in the bladder. The patient is left with the feeling that his bladder is never completely empty. The lower the PVR amount, the more improved the condition. After BPH treatment with the Índigo Laser System, patients had dramatically less PVR—it had dropped by 70%.

A recent clinical trial found no occurrence of retrograde ejaculation and less than 1% incidence of impotence or incontinence⁴
All medical procedures have some risk. However, the Índigo Laser System has been shown to have minimal side effects. No patients in a recent clinical trial experienced retrograde ejaculation (when a man's ejaculated fluid goes backward into the bladder instead of coming out of the urethra and penis) and less than 1% experienced impotence (inability to get an erection) or incontinence (inability to control urination). These are side effects that can be seen with other surgeries. About 1 in 4 men experienced painful urination after the procedure. This will typically go away within a short period of time.