marcus

One of the marketing ploys of Laserscope is to leave out relevant and
pertinent information.
Regarding the bladder, years of BPH may cause it to lose
contractility.....like a balloon that is repeatedly over inflated
loses its "bounce" and ability to empty its contents quickly. Urgency and
frequency may very well NOT be corrected with BPH because of prior bladder
damage. If there is a discussion of this on Laserscope's site, I'd like to
know where it is!
What Laserscope should mention is that the bladder may be damaged from years
of stress related to BPH and may, or may not return to normal contractility.
But, of course, they don't. Doing so could dissuade potential customers!

I've mentioned this several times on this site and as new readers and
contributors join in the discussion I would feel remiss not to caution them
about the hyped up marketing that characterizes Laserscope's irresponsible
commitment to the bottom line.....THEIR PROFITS! There is no ethical place
for the MARKETING of medical procedures, primarily because there are, at
best, minimal ethics involved. Recently they upgraded their site to include
a more realistic evaluation of a patient's recovery issues. But that was
after months of criticism and implied legal action against their
self-serving misinformation campaigns. It is unfortunate that we as patients
have to stand beside a medical corporation and essentially whip it into
compliance with the reality and consequences of surgical procedures...even
if that reality only applies to a "significant minority." That "significant
minority" now numbers in the hundreds or thousands, and will continue to
grow as PVP becomes more and more the "gold standard" in prostate reduction
surgery.


Marcus

marcus

Please see next post: "Laserscope's convenient Omission"

There was an editing error in the initial posting.

tap

Marcus,

As you know, Laserscope PVP opens a channel through an enlarged prostate in
the least tramatic way available.

It doesn't fix bladders, and Laserscope never said it does.

A bladder destroyed by years of straining through an enlarged prostate will
not be helped by a Laserscope PVP.

The key advantage to Laserscope PVP is having it done long before the
bladder is seriously damaged. Given the less tramatic surgury than TURP and
less side effects, it is best to get a PVP sooner than later.

Patrick
PVP June 2002
Dr. Te NYC

jim w.

Well yes and if nothing else you get off the alpha blockers, keep the
bladder from getting even worse, and at least have a chance to try the
bladder desensitizing
medications.
Jim W.

bnd777

patient for neglecting / ignoring their symptoms for way too long and for
the medics who are too happy to fob patients off with "its age theres
nothing we can do "

Thank god I pushed for a referral as soon as i did and i also am extremely
grateful to laserscope and Gordon Muir for PVP as the mere thought of a
traditional TURP and its length of recovery still leaves me cold

mb

Well, Jim and Pat, yes and no!!

In my situation, the flomax is working extremely well with no side effects.

In fact, it has allowed me to wait until PVP came out!!!

My PVP doc found no residual urine so he said I could wait until things get
worse. He then said he would put me on a second medication along with
flomax. Only when that fails does he feel it would be time for PVP. While it
is a guessing game, I might have quite a few years left (things could
deteriorate quickly or I might go 3-4 more years).

Anyway, the distinct advantage will be that the methods keep improving!! It
is a balancing act. In my case, the PVP doc does not feel I'll have the
bladder problems you guys talk about (I suspect when I start to have
retention problems it will be time for PVP).

Mel

liz

LEAST? is not microwave less tramatic?

tap

Microwave doesn't open a channel.