Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat Is ItPurposeHow to PrepareWhat to ExpectRecovery
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
What Is It
Purpose
How to Prepare
What to Expect
Recovery
Ariel Skelley/Getty Images
Besides causing a rapid improvement in symptoms, the UroLift procedure has the added benefit of preserving sexual function. That said, for some patients who undergo this treatment, BPH symptoms eventually return.
What Is the Prostate?Theprostateis a walnut-sized gland in men located below the bladder. It surrounds the urethra.
What Is the Prostate?
Theprostateis a walnut-sized gland in men located below the bladder. It surrounds the urethra.
What Is the UroLift Procedure?
The UroLift procedure takes less than an hour and is performed in aurologist’soffice underlocal anesthesia.
These implants “lift” or push away prostate tissue that is blocking the urethra. As a result, the urethra is widened, allowing urine to pass easily out of the body.
A unique advantage of the UroLift procedure is that, unlike medications and other surgeries used to treat BPH, it does not cause sexual side effects such as erectile or ejaculatory problems.
A disadvantage of the UroLift procedure is that while the implants are intended to be permanent, some patients develop recurrent symptoms, requiring a repeat procedure or another type of prostate surgery.
Besides a UroLift procedure, other minimally invasive procedures used to treat the symptoms of BPH include:
Contraindications
The UroLift procedure cannot be performed in patients with the following medical conditions/circumstances:
Potential Risks
The most common side effects associated with a UroLift are temporary and include:
Rarely, significant bleeding and infection may occur.
Symptoms of BPH occur as a result from an inability to fully empty the bladder because excess prostate tissue is slowing or blocking the flow of urine.
If the above symptoms develop, medication is usually tried first. Surgery is often considered if medication fails or if a patient cannot tolerate its side effects.
In the past, transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) was considered the gold standard surgical treatment for BPH.
TURP entails removing pieces of the enlarged prostate gland using an electric current delivered through a wire loop. The surgery is done undergeneral anesthesia, and most men stay overnight in the hospital afterward.
While effective, side effects of TURP include bleeding, urination problems, and erectile/ejaculatory dysfunction.
UroLift may be preferred because it is less invasive and does not affect sexual function.
When deciding among the various surgical options, your doctor will consider factors like the size and shape of your prostate gland, your preference, and overall health status.
Once you are scheduled for a UroLift procedure, your doctor will give you instructions on how to prepare.
Location
What to Wear
You will need to change into a hospital gown for your procedure. Therefore, it’s best to wear clothes that are easy to remove.
Food and Drink
You may be advised to stop drinking alcohol and any caffeinated beverages, including coffee, starting two days before your procedure.
After midnight the evening before your UroLift, avoid eating or drinking entirely. One exception: You can take your usual medications with a small sip of water.
Medications
If you take aspirin or another type of blood thinner, your doctor might ask you to stop a week before your procedure.
Be sure to tell your doctor all of the drugs you are taking, including prescription and over-the-counter medications, herbal products, vitamins, and recreational drugs.
Your doctor may prescribe you an antibiotic to begin taking the day before your procedure. You may also be advised to take Motrin (ibuprofen) tablets one hour prior to your UroLift (assuming you are not allergic).
What to Bring
On the day of your procedure, bring your driver’s license and insurance card.
Arrange to have someone drive you home afterward.
What to Expect on the Day of the Procedure
While a UroLift is a relatively fast procedure, it’s normal to feel apprehensive going into it. Knowing what to expect from start to finish will hopefully help ease your mind a bit.
Before the Procedure
Upon arrival at your doctor’s office for a UroLift, you will be escorted to the exam room where you will be asked to undress from the waist down and put on a gown.
Your urologist will then likely come to greet you and briefly review the steps of the procedure with you. You may need to sign a consent form at this time.
Next, a nurse will ask you to lie back on the exam table. You will be given a mild sedative, such as Valium (diazepam), to help you relax before the local anesthesia is administered.
During the Procedure
Your urologist will then proceed with the following steps:
After the Procedure
After the procedure is over, you will be asked to use the bathroom to urinate. You may notice some burning at the tip of your penis or a stinging sensation when you urinate. This is normal: The lidocaine is starting to wear off and your urethra is a bit sore from the procedure.
Once you urinate, you will get dressed and be sent home to recover.
If you are having trouble urinating after the procedure, your doctor may insert another catheter in your bladder. Some patients go home with this catheter to help them void.
After you discuss any questions or concerns that you have about your procedure or recovery, you will get dressed and leave your urologist’s office.
As you recover at home you may experience some achiness in your lower abdomen/pelvis and mild discomfort when sitting.
You may also notice that you have to urinate more frequently and that you have some blood in your urine.
All of this is normal and should resolve within two to four weeks.
During this time, it’s important to follow your doctor’s post-operative instructions, which may include:
Be sure to confirm post-operative activity restrictions with your doctor. Some doctors recommend a week of lighter activity and avoiding sex for a week. Others say it’s OK to resume normal activities within a day or two after the UroLift, assuming you are feeling up to it.
When to Call Your DoctorCall your doctor if you experience any of the following symptoms:Fever and/or chillsBlood in your urine after two weeks or excessively bloody urinePainful or swollen testicle or scrotum (may be a sign of infection)Inability to urinate
When to Call Your Doctor
Call your doctor if you experience any of the following symptoms:Fever and/or chillsBlood in your urine after two weeks or excessively bloody urinePainful or swollen testicle or scrotum (may be a sign of infection)Inability to urinate
Call your doctor if you experience any of the following symptoms:
Your first follow-up visit will be around two weeks after your procedure. At this appointment, your doctor will monitor you for complications, ensure you are able to empty your bladder appropriately, and review improvements in your BPH symptoms.
Long-Term Care
Research has found that the UroLift procedure offers a rapid improvement in BPH symptoms—close to 90% greater when compared to a sham procedure—and an improvement in patients' quality of life.
That said, it may take around three months to see the full results of your UroLift procedure, which is why it’s important to attend all of your follow-up appointments.
Possible Future Surgeries
A repeat UroLift or additional prostate surgery may be needed in patients whose BPH symptoms recur.
In one study that examined patients over a five-year period after undergoing a UroLift, close to 14% of patients needed surgical retreatment.
Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH): Guide to Treatment
A Word From Verywell
The UroLift procedure is a unique treatment approach that accomplishes symptom relief and an improvement in quality of life without troubling sexual side effects. That said, the procedure may not be right or permanent for everyone.
Keep in mind that urologists may be specially trained in certain procedures. As such, you may want to seek out more than one opinion before making a final decision.
12 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Yale Medicine.What is UroLift?Barkin J, Giddens J, Incze P, Casey R, Richardson S, Gange S.UroLift system for relief of prostate obstruction under local anesthesia.Can J Urol.Parsons JK, Dahm P, Köhler TS et al:Management of lower urinary tract symptoms attributed to benign prostatic hyperplasia: AUA Guideline amendment.J Urol.McVary KT.Surgical treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). O’Leary MP, ed. UpToDate. Waltham, MA: UpToDate.U.S. Food and Drug Administration.UroLift Advanced Tissue Control (ATC) System.Roehrborn CG, Barkin J, Gange SN et al.Five year results of the prospective randomized controlled prostatic urethral L.I.F.T. study.Can J Urol.McVary KT.Patient education: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) (Beyond the Basics). O’Leary MP, ed. UpToDate. Waltham, MA.Grungerber I.Urology Care Foundation: Innovations in Treatment of BPH.University of Washington Medical Center.About Your Procedure: UroLift.Roehrborn CG.Prostatic Urethral Lift: A Unique Minimally Invasive Surgical Treatment of Male Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Secondary to Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia.Urol Clin North Am.2016 Aug;43(3):357-69. doi:10.1016/j.ucl.2016.04.008Cleveland Clinic.Prostatic Urethral Lift.Urology Times.UroLift System Treatment: Expert Panel Discussion.
12 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Yale Medicine.What is UroLift?Barkin J, Giddens J, Incze P, Casey R, Richardson S, Gange S.UroLift system for relief of prostate obstruction under local anesthesia.Can J Urol.Parsons JK, Dahm P, Köhler TS et al:Management of lower urinary tract symptoms attributed to benign prostatic hyperplasia: AUA Guideline amendment.J Urol.McVary KT.Surgical treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). O’Leary MP, ed. UpToDate. Waltham, MA: UpToDate.U.S. Food and Drug Administration.UroLift Advanced Tissue Control (ATC) System.Roehrborn CG, Barkin J, Gange SN et al.Five year results of the prospective randomized controlled prostatic urethral L.I.F.T. study.Can J Urol.McVary KT.Patient education: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) (Beyond the Basics). O’Leary MP, ed. UpToDate. Waltham, MA.Grungerber I.Urology Care Foundation: Innovations in Treatment of BPH.University of Washington Medical Center.About Your Procedure: UroLift.Roehrborn CG.Prostatic Urethral Lift: A Unique Minimally Invasive Surgical Treatment of Male Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Secondary to Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia.Urol Clin North Am.2016 Aug;43(3):357-69. doi:10.1016/j.ucl.2016.04.008Cleveland Clinic.Prostatic Urethral Lift.Urology Times.UroLift System Treatment: Expert Panel Discussion.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Yale Medicine.What is UroLift?Barkin J, Giddens J, Incze P, Casey R, Richardson S, Gange S.UroLift system for relief of prostate obstruction under local anesthesia.Can J Urol.Parsons JK, Dahm P, Köhler TS et al:Management of lower urinary tract symptoms attributed to benign prostatic hyperplasia: AUA Guideline amendment.J Urol.McVary KT.Surgical treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). O’Leary MP, ed. UpToDate. Waltham, MA: UpToDate.U.S. Food and Drug Administration.UroLift Advanced Tissue Control (ATC) System.Roehrborn CG, Barkin J, Gange SN et al.Five year results of the prospective randomized controlled prostatic urethral L.I.F.T. study.Can J Urol.McVary KT.Patient education: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) (Beyond the Basics). O’Leary MP, ed. UpToDate. Waltham, MA.Grungerber I.Urology Care Foundation: Innovations in Treatment of BPH.University of Washington Medical Center.About Your Procedure: UroLift.Roehrborn CG.Prostatic Urethral Lift: A Unique Minimally Invasive Surgical Treatment of Male Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Secondary to Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia.Urol Clin North Am.2016 Aug;43(3):357-69. doi:10.1016/j.ucl.2016.04.008Cleveland Clinic.Prostatic Urethral Lift.Urology Times.UroLift System Treatment: Expert Panel Discussion.
Yale Medicine.What is UroLift?
Barkin J, Giddens J, Incze P, Casey R, Richardson S, Gange S.UroLift system for relief of prostate obstruction under local anesthesia.Can J Urol.
Parsons JK, Dahm P, Köhler TS et al:Management of lower urinary tract symptoms attributed to benign prostatic hyperplasia: AUA Guideline amendment.J Urol.
McVary KT.Surgical treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). O’Leary MP, ed. UpToDate. Waltham, MA: UpToDate.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration.UroLift Advanced Tissue Control (ATC) System.
Roehrborn CG, Barkin J, Gange SN et al.Five year results of the prospective randomized controlled prostatic urethral L.I.F.T. study.Can J Urol.
McVary KT.Patient education: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) (Beyond the Basics). O’Leary MP, ed. UpToDate. Waltham, MA.
Grungerber I.Urology Care Foundation: Innovations in Treatment of BPH.
University of Washington Medical Center.About Your Procedure: UroLift.
Roehrborn CG.Prostatic Urethral Lift: A Unique Minimally Invasive Surgical Treatment of Male Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Secondary to Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia.Urol Clin North Am.2016 Aug;43(3):357-69. doi:10.1016/j.ucl.2016.04.008
Cleveland Clinic.Prostatic Urethral Lift.
Urology Times.UroLift System Treatment: Expert Panel Discussion.
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