Dublin hospital offers new therapy for people with enlarged prostate gland

Professor Rustom Manecksha: "The Reeves Day Surgery Centre has been a game-changer for us."

Patients who suffer from an enlarged prostate gland can now benefit from water vapour therapy in a new approach at one Dublin hospital.

Some one-in-four Irish men over 40 may suffer from an enlarged prostate gland. An enlarged prostate places pressure on the bladder and urethra, and if not treated this can lead to more serious problems with the kidneys and bladder.

A team at Tallaght University Hospital’s Reeves Day Surgery Centre is now offering this therapy with around a 15-minute operating time as an alternative to traditional surgery.

The treatment, Rezūm, uses water vapour therapy to target and shrink the excess prostate tissue. A specialised device is directed to deliver small bursts of heated water vapor directly into the prostate tissue, in bursts of nine seconds. 

The treated tissue is then gradually re-absorbed by the body, reducing the size of the prostate. Team leader, urologist Professor Rustom Manecksha, said it is a minimally invasive way to treat this common problem.

“The introduction of this new therapy is a welcome addition to the number of ways we can treat an enlarged prostate, many of which are minimally invasive,” he said.

“This means our patients spend less time in hospital and have a shorter recovery time so they can get back to living their lives.” 

He highlighted the benefit for these men of being treated in a stand-alone part of the hospital which does not take patients from the emergency department.

“The condition itself is a benign condition, so it is not uncommon for it to take a back-seat in terms of priorities, especially when hospitals are challenged with trolley crisis and various other pressures,” he said.

These men while waiting for the more traditional surgeries would be competing for beds with other patients who would be prioritised more urgently because of maybe cancer or other clinically urgent needs. 

"In an ideal world if we had enough beds to treat all the patients in a timely fashion, this would be less impressive.” 

Prof. Manecksha said this type of centre is needed for patients on elective waiting lists, as patients have a definite date for their operation which will not be cancelled unexpectedly. 

"The Reeves Day Surgery Centre has been a game-changer for us," he said. 

Cork University Hospital was recently announced as the site of planned surgical hub for this region, modelled on the Reeves Centre.