title: Thulium laser resection for bladder neck obstruction in women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this paper was to investigate the efficacy of thulium laser resection of bladder neck in women with bladder neck obstruction (BNO).
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical information of 86 women with BNO who were treated in our hospital from Jan 2011 to Dec 2012 was retrospectively reviewed; 46 patients received thulium laser resection (group 1), and the remaining patients were treated with standard electric resection (group 2). Maximum urinary flow rate (MFR), residual urine volume (RV), overactive bladder symptom score (OABSS) and quality of life (QOL) were determined before and after surgery. These patients were followed up at 1 week, 3 months, and 12 months after surgery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The RV levels after surgery in groups 1 were significantly lower than those before operation. MFR significantly increased after surgery when compared with preoperation, OABSS and QOL score markedly decreased at 3 months after surgery (P<0.05). Thulium laser resection had advantages in postoperative catheter retaining time (2.18±0.73 d vs. 4.24±1.01 d), postoperative hospitalization time (3.25±0.61 d vs. 4.73±1.41 d), Intraoperative blood loss (11.5±1.53 mL vs. 32.32±8.53 mL) and total cost ($1415±71 vs. $1148±59) over standard electric resection (P<0.05), but the operative time was comparable between two groups (18.36±5.45 min vs. 19.25±7.08 min) (P >0.05). In group 2, urethral stricture was seen in 1 patient, and two patients suffered from temporary incontinence, being back to normal in one month. However, urethral stricture and incontinence were not observed in group 1.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Thulium laser resection is a simple, safe and effective strategy for the treatment of bladder neck obstruction in women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016063:Blood Loss, Surgical / Q000517:prevention & control; D002681:China; D004598:Electrosurgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013932:Thulium; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D001748:Urinary Bladder Neck Obstruction / Q000601:surgery*
chemical_list: D013932:Thulium