does anybody know about holmium laser ablation of the prostate is and any results

Men's health
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Hi. I had this op done 2 years ago and several others who use this forum have as well. It’s a very successful technique for removing all but the shell of the prostate. It needs great skill and is quite a long op but it’s all done thru the penis (camera, water, laser and later a macerator). It’s used for BPH where the prostate is quite large. Mine was 100% successful but RE is quite normal so no good if you want more kids.

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I don’t know if t has changed/improved over the years. I was offered it in 2004 but turned it down in favour of GL PVP.
When my prostate regrew I had a Thulmium/Holmium procedure in 2013. The holmium saved tissue for the lab to check for cancer cells and the Thulium lasered the rest of the tissue sealing blood vessels and leaving it smooth. It gave a very similar result to Holep.

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Does anyone know if holmium laser is covered by Medicare and or conventional health insurance?

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One of the members on this site told me that HoLEP (which is the name holmium laser for BPH and large prostate ) was recently (2108) covered under BCBS insurance. Not sure about Medicare. It’s expensive, qround $20,000 out of pocket if not covered. Tu laser enucleation TuLEP is used even less due to the cost of the laser. I doubt that it’s covered by Medicare or any private insurance in US, with exception to TriCare maybe. You can read the results in this paper Thulium laser enucleation of the prostate is a safe and a highly effective modality for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia - Our experience of 236 patients - PMC

Go for PAE first and will be never late to do a Laser enucleation of BPH when becomes available.

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If it is $20,000 in America come over to the UK where it is probably about £6,000 or $8,000

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I agree the UK may be a lot cheaper? I had my HoLEP covered by my Private Health provider (BUPA). I don’t know the cost but I suspect it was below $10K and with a top surgeon in Cambridge.

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India is even cheaper. They evidently have vast hospitals that specialise in urology. How about south of the border down Mexico way ?

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what are the results after youy had the procedure did it help