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= Paid-up subscribersTURP rates have fallen since introduction of medical therapy
09 Aug 2011
The increasing use of medical therapy as first-line treatment for BPH has resulted in a significant drop in transurethral prostatectomies (TURPs) being carried out. Researchers from Ontario, Canada, examined the records of patients undergoing TURP for symptomatic BPH at their hospital in 1988, before medical therapy had been introduced, 1998 when it had become an important option and 2008 when it had become first-line therapy. TURP rates dropped by 60% between 1988 and 1998 from 157 to 64. In the following 10 years, a moderate increase in TURP rates was seen with 84 procedures carried out in 2008. However, the population served increased from 64,000 to 88,000 over the time period studied. In 1988, none of the men undergoing TURP were recorded as being on any medical treatment for BPH, but this had increased to 36% in 1998 and 87% in 2008. The most common form of medical treatment in 1998 was alpha-blocker monotherapy, but in 2008 it was combination therapy with an alpha-blocker and 5-alpha reductase inhibitor.
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