Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kırac Answers, What Is Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy And What Are Its Symptoms And How Is It Treated?

BPH or benign prostatic enlargement is a disease that occurs in men as they age. Enlargement of the prostate begins and continues gradually usually in the 40s. This disease is totally benign and occurs with enlargement of the inner part of the prostate. The enlarged prostate narrows the urethra and affects the bladder outlet. Symptoms such as difficulty urinating, burning in urination, frequent urination, decreased urine flow, and urination at night are observed in the patient. There may be occasional bleeding and infection in the urine. Sudden urinary obstruction may be seen in advanced disease. The symptoms are reduced primarily with medication. The aim of medication treatment is not to reduce the size of the prostate, but to reduce the symptoms. In patients who do not benefit from medication treatment and whose disease has progressed, the treatment is surgery. Although surgical methods are very different, mostly closed methods are performed. Today, the gold standard in the world and in our country is the TUR method, which is closed surgery. There are treatment modalities such as HOLEP and Green Light as an alternative to the TUR method. If the prostate is more than 100 grams, open surgical techniques may be required.