Thulium laser versus standard transurethral resection of the prostate for benign prostatic obstruction: a systematic review and meta-analysis

To assess the efficacy and safety of thulium laser versus standard transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) for treating patients with benign prostatic obstruction.

A systematic search of the electronic databases, including Medline, Embase, Web of Science, and The Cochrane Library, was performed up to February 1, 2014. The pooled estimates of demographic and clinical baseline characteristics, perioperative variables, complications, and postoperative efficacy including International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), quality of life (QoL), maximum flow rate (Qmax), and postvoid residual (PVR) were calculated.

Seven trials assessing thulium laser versus standard TURP were considered suitable for meta-analysis including four randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and three non-RCTs. Compared with TURP, although thulium laser prostatectomy (TmLRP) needed a longer operative time [weighted mean difference (WMD) 8.18 min; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.60–14.75; P = 0.01], patients having TmLRP might benefit from significantly less serum sodium decreased (−3.73 mmol/L; 95 % CI −4.41 to −3.05; P < 0.001), shorter time of catheterization (WMD −1.29 days; 95 % CI −1.95 to −0.63; P < 0.001), shorter length of hospital stay (WMD −1.83 days; 95 % CI −3.10 to −0.57; P = 0.005), and less transfusion (odds ratio 0.09; 95 % CI 0.02–0.41; P = 0.002). During the 1, 3, and, 12 months of postoperative follow-up, the procedures did not demonstrate a significant difference in IPSS, QoL, Qmax, and PVR.

TmLRP had a similar efficacy to standard TURP in terms of IPSS, QoL, Qmax, and PVR, and offered several advantages over TURP in terms of blood transfusion, serum sodium decreased, catheterization time, and hospital stay, while TURP was superior in terms of operation duration. Well-designed multicentric/international RCTs with long-term follow-up are still needed.