title: Transurethral needle ablation for chronic nonbacterial prostatitis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the efficacy of transurethral needle ablation (TUNA) of the prostate for treating chronic nonbacterial prostatitis unresponsive to conservative therapies.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-two patients (mean age 38.5 years, range 25-52) with nonbacterial prostatitis in whom clinical management was unsuccessful in relieving the symptoms or signs of prostatitis were treated using TUNA. All patients had a high leukocyte count (> 15 per high-power field) in expressed prostatic secretions (EPS) with no bacterial growth in either urine or prostatic secretion cultures. Before TUNA all patients were evaluated using a symptom score, satisfaction score (quality of life) and an examination of prostatic secretions. All patients were reassessed using the same variables 1 and 3 months after TUNA. Of the 42 patients, 10 had their semen analysed before and 3 months after treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean (sd) symptom and satisfaction scores improved significantly, from 11.02 (2.90) to 5.00 (2.61) and from 4.84 (0.57) to 1.26 (1.18), respectively, 3 months after TUNA (both P < 0.05). Of the 42 patients, 30 (71%) had normal EPS results within 3 months of TUNA. Also, of 37 patients with high leukocyte counts (> 100 per high-power field) before TUNA, 26 (70%) had normal EPS results within 3 months afterward, and 29 (78%) had a satisfaction score of < 3 points.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  TUNA may be a possible treatment option for patients with chronic nonbacterial prostatitis that is unresponsive to conservative therapies. A long-term follow-up and randomized studies are needed to confirm the efficacy of the TUNA against intractable chronic prostatitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: K C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: P B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Whang
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000379:methods*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009339:Needles; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011472:Prostatitis / Q000601:surgery*