Green light laser surgery also called prostate laser surgery, is used to vaporize prostate tissue that blocks urine from exiting the bladder. Prostate enlargement, technically called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) or benign prostatic hypertrophy, is the main cause of frequent urination in men. The green light laser is a surgical prostate removal tool used by the urologists here at the Miami urology center. Laser surgery is also used to break up kidney stones that are stuck in the kidney, ureters, or bladder, that laser is called a Holmium laser. Miami urologists Dr Alan Nieder and Dr Fernando Bianco both perform the green light laser procedure for enlarged prostate and the Holmium laser procedure for kidney stones.
Green light laser surgery minimizes bleeding while removing prostate tissue because there is no cutting of the tissue. The tissue is simply vaporized by the greenlight laser. Green light vaporization of prostate tissue creates an instant passage for urine to flow out and completely empty the bladder. The urine flow improvement generally happens within 24 hours of the green light procedure; of course special health conditions, medical history and other factors may alter that 24 hour period of improvement in your urine flow rate. Since the procedure is performed under anesthesia by our world class urologists with the Columbia University Division of Urology here at the Mount Sinai Medical Center here on Miami Beach Florida there is virtually no sensation of pain or discomfort felt during the procedure.
Enlarged prostate treatment with the prostate laser surgery not only gives a quick result for stopping urinary retention but also the convenience of leaving hours after the procedure. Transurethral resection of the prostate laser or TURP laser are synonyms for the green light laser procedure. The mix up in the common vernacular is that the transurethral resection of the prostate is performed with a loop of wire that can cut and cauterize prostate tissue while the green light laser vaporizes the prostate tissue helping to minimize bleeding.
Green light laser procedures may give patients mild discomfort after the procedure and possibly frequent urination for several days to a week. There may be blood in urine, gross hematuria, microhematuria, and frequent urination for a short time, due to irritation from the insertion of the urological instruments during the green light surgery.