my doctor is very negative about Urolift system, what's your opinion

the only good review about the urolift is the doctors bank account. I had it done before insurance cover total waste of time and money, and turp, is not the answer, there is a shot they have in Europe has had Great success, I found out after, sadly. Canada his it, America should, and, hopefully, will get it .

I also had a bad experience in Jan 2019. I went to a renowned Mid-Atlantic University Hospital. They promised high and delivered low. They told me Conscious sedation - they gave me general anesthesia. They told me No hospitalization - I spent 10 hours in the emergency room. They told me minimal blood loss -I lost btw 1-2 units of blood. They told me no catheter - I had one for 3 days and I had to remove it myself because they "were closed for the long weekend" They told me minimal pain - I had massive pain from the bladder spasms and the obstructed bladder (full of blood clots and 1,000ml of blood). The flushing out of the bladder was brutal! I was flopping around like a fish out of water and whimpering like a baby. They told me No post-op meds - I'm taking 2 meds. Not one person ever apologized or said they were sorry for all the problems and post-op complications. They charged me $32,000 for this procedure.
After all that I am back where I started. He wanted to remove all the implants and do a TURP, and I said No thanks. Its gonna be a few years before I would consider another procedure.
I think the manufacturer of Urolift hides all these failed cases.

It has been 5 weeks now since my initial post, which was a few days after the surgery. After reading and re-readying other posts, there seems to be a pretty general consensus concerning the procedure. Some seem to have had some large arteries or veins pierced when the implants were put in place. This appears to have caused a lot of bleeding and clotting. Could there have been something in place during the procedure to at least locate these and keep bleeding to a minimum? There is a newer procedure being tested that uses a device to locate the arteries, (and miss the arteries of the bladder) and actually "kill them", feeding the prostate where once a portion of the prostate is dead. it turns to scar tissue and over the course of a few months the prostate shrinks 20-30 percent and the body naturally takes the dead tissue away. So seems like there is something out there to locate and prevent hitting the arteries or large veins. The second thing seems to be clotting and the use of the Foley catheter. This is the only prostate procedure to uses a one way drain catheter instead of the 3-way so flushing can be achieved.I still want to get an answer as to why the Foley is used. Why not use the 3-way and flush after surgery and allow the patient flush at home if needed as in the other prostate surgeries further preventing a trip to ER? After pulling my 3 way catheter put in place at the ER, there was very little bleeding and none noted by the second day.A few days after the ER incident,I had an appointment to see the doctor to see the progress. Once again, I was told it was not possible for the implant surgery to be damaged after having a catheter re-inserted. I'm reading here where that is possible. They kept me on Flomax until the end of the 3rd week. During that time, I still felt something resistance when I peed. After getting off Flowmax, for the 4th week, I still feel some resistance to flow. I only get up once each night usually about 5 hours after going to sleep. Stream is constant but not strong. Probably about the same as before surgery but peeing longer at night. I feel either some part of the surgery failed or maybe some scar tissue in the way. Insurance paid everything so far except deductible. I've been documenting everything closely and gee, they even gave me a pretty color picture of the before/after surgery. I go back next week, 6th week follow up, for them to see my progression. I'll still going to remind them of a few things and let them suggest where I go from here. I suspect they'll want to wait until a 3 month period or longer. I'm seriously considering going somewhere else to be scoped whether or not insurance pays for it or not at around 9 weeks.just so I know what the verdict is. I'll keep you posted on progression. I hope any of those that have posted before would re-post if they have had any improvement since their first post, even if there is no change or if they have opted for any other procedure especially any new one that has been approved. I have found a document on line that is very in depth and honest about expectations of the Urolift surgery. Wish I had that before making any decision. It does state in there about the first 21 days expectations, It does state that "The Urinary symptoms that you experienced prior to the procedure (frequency, urgency, getting up at night frequently, feeling as if you don't empty completely, slow stream, dribbling at the end of urination) symptoms could worsen immediately after the procedure. This is normal and usually resolves within 2-3 weeks. It may take up to 3 months after the procedure for full results." I was never told that and all the material I was given or read online just states the post operative symptoms as if they will simply just exist and then get better, I wonder what response they will get if they tell patients that they could be worse before they get better and take up to 3 months for full results. May not be a good pitch. I don't know of I can post the link here. If you do a search for "post operative expectations of Urolift" or "first 21 days expectations of Urolift surgery" it should come up with a site that brings up a pdf document from Midtown Urology, Austin, Tx. If you go to Midtown Urology you will not see or find the pdf document. I believe this is one that is given to their patients only or may be one that is no longer used. Not sure.Thanks for your replies and responses.

I had Urolift 7 days ago. They had told me at first I would only need a catheter for 1 night, Well, I had the catheter for four nights. The fifth day I went to the doctor to get the catheter removed. The entire five days after surgery I was miserable. Up every hour and could barely pee. The night after taking the catheter out I could not pee at all. Went to the ER and they tried putting a small catheter in, I screamed bloody murder. Eventually I was able to leave the ER and pee just a little. I went to the doctor the next day and he did a cystoscopy. He said scar tissue had closed me completely. Oddly after the cystoscopy it must have opened me up some and I could pee. At that point I believe the doctor had given up. He referred me to a specialist that deals with scar tissue. She seemed like my last hope. Her words were to put me on some medicine for 3 weeks and take a laxative. She said it would take 2 and 1/2 months for scar tissue to heal. After that she could do a cystoscopy and try to determine what cause of action could be done with the scar tissue. She did tell me if I ran into problems peeing she could put a port in with surgery that would allow me to void my urine without a catheter, She also said it was very normal to have bad experiences with the urolift the first 2 or three weeks. All I can say is I would die first before having that Urolift. The doctor gave me no indications of any problems from the procedure. That was a big lie. Borderline malpractice. I seem to be doing some better with the medicine this specialist gave me and seem like finally I am on the right course.
What a nightmare. Do not do the Urolift is all I can say. It has made my life much worse. Hope this helps someone. God bless.

Why did you have to have the catheter in for 4 nights following the day of the surgery? Also were you on any blood thinners prior to your surgery?

I had the urolift done in February and I have to admit about the first month I peed blood and it burnt, then it got to whenever I peed it was almost like I was having an orgasm, that lasted a couple of weeks and slowly became more normal, and now I can put out a camp fire with the volume and pressure I can pee at. I am having some pelvis pain and from what I have read it can take up to a year before it goes away. I have to rate the surgery as a success. So far there is no sexual side affects, everything works just fine and the flow is amazing, unlike the flowmax with the backflow of orgasmic fluid , that is the worst feeling in the world. I would recommend having this done, the procedure although i was asleep wasn't really that bad, but when I woke up and the giant water hose ran in my penis wasn't real pleasant. (not really) but it felt like it. for the most part I am back to normal,

I had the Urolift done 4.5 weeks ago & void well, but still have to get up several times a night to urinate. I tried avoiding drinking water before bed, but that didn't help, so I drink water untill bed time. So, do I need more time to heal more before I can get up fewer times at night? Thanks.

One thing I think you can do is monitor the volume and length of time it takes to void the urine. I kept a pen and paper in the bathroom and wrote down the amount I voided into a measurement cup and timed how long it took. A normal full bladder from 8-13 ounces shouldn’t take very long. If it takes up to a full minute you may still have issues. You may not still be emptying.

I’ve heard from others that they were told healing could take up to 3 months.

I had a urolift with no improvement in symptoms and developed Peyronie’s disease shortly thereafter.

hell, who do i beleive. ?

its been 7 weeks since I had the urolift procedure. No change.. maybe worse. still waiting to feel any
improvement .i'm 86 years old and this procedure was recommended by a friend. saw on the internet that there was only about 15% failure so I took my chances. They mentioned that after the procedure there would be discomfort. Discomfort Hell. It was pure F#!!&% misery for 2-3 weeks. Still peeing in parking lots and bushes and where most dogs would pee cause I travel. I recommend dont pull over the side of the road and pee because if a cop notices they will think you are drinking alchol and need to pee

I approached my urologist and asked if I was a candidate. He said yes. I read that a block can be administered. He said he felt it didn’t help much. I will say, the procedure was excruciatingly painful. Got very queasy. He placed great pressure on my prostrate to invert the objects. He placed a rubber catheter I think from my bladder out my penis and connected it to a drain bag. Lots of blood tons of pain. All I was prescribed was one pill with codeine and one Valium. No block just a little numbing gel at the entrance of my penis. The catheter is to be removed tomorrow and it too will be painful. I tried to myself and it stretched six inches and did not budge out. I can not understand that when you have a colonoscopy they administer a general anesthesia and practically nothing for this procedure. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PROCEDURE UNDER THESE CONDITIONS. I saw a lot of men interviewed online and nothing was mentioned about the terrible pain. I had the procedure on Friday morning. It’s Sunday morning and IT HURTS LIKE HELL TO PEE!!!!!

I had a Urolift almost 3 years ago after an unsuccessful TURP. I was having frequent stoppages which required emergency implants of a foley catheter. The procedure had mild discomfort and I have had no ER visits since. I would rate this totally successful. I was able to get off Alfusozin and now take no medications. I get up 2 or sometimes 3 times/night. I believe this is more related to how much and when I had to drink before bed. It is not perfect but I would not hesitate to do it again if it failed tonight. I am a 75 year old male.

I had the urolift, 6 months later I felt like I was electrocuted while lying in bed. I had a cysto. done and no clips were found in my prostate. I then had an xray done and the clips were found near the vicinity of my prostate. They pulled through my prostate and now there just floating around in my body, god only knows what kind of damage they might do now.