Joaquim Gironella, full academician of the Royal European Academy of Doctors-Barcelona 1914 (RAED), participated in the 4th International Act-European Congress of Interdisciplinary Research of RAED, which was held last July in various Mediterranean capitals with the paper “Fotoenucleación de la glándula prostática obstructiva con láser tulio (ThuLEP)” (Photoenucleation of the thoracic obstructive prostate gland with laser (ThuLEP)), in which he describes the different treatments that currently coexist in the medical or surgical treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), very common among older people, highlighting the non-invasive surgery that allows the use of the different endourological lasers that exist.
“Open surgery, still widely used in the present, should be stopped practicing both its morbidity and the surgical alternatives highly resolutive of modern medicine such as endoscopic bipolar resection and laparoscopic surgery. However, the appearance in recent years of different endourological lasers with different properties have substantially modified the surgical methods of treating prostatic hypertrophy”, Gironella points out in his paper.
Dr. Joaquim Gironella
For the academician, one of the most recognized specialists in Spain in the treatment of this hyperplasia, the emergence of lasers in the endoscopic treatment of BPH is an undeniable fact for about 15 years that has gained ground over the transurethral resection of classic prostate. Among its advantages are low tissue damage, a greater energy penetration of the tissue, less bleeding, a faster and more comfortable recovery for the patient and greater safety, since the laser energy acts on the target, and not the surrounding, tissue.
Regarding the endoscopic photoenucleation of prostate with thulium laser, Gironella assures that it is a minimally invasive and effective new technique that permits surgical treatment of the hypertrophic prostate gland, of all sizes and without the dramatic effects of classical surgery. “The surgical technique of photoenucleation can be considered as the culmination of an extraordinary methodological success, where technology, innovation and imagination go hand in hand to solve a functional pathology that affects the quality of life of a large part of the male population”, concludes the academician.
