Aim: The aim of our study is to examine the learning curve of HoLEP and to discuss our results in the light of the literature. Methods: 100 patients who had LUTS resistant to medical treatment and complicated BPH to whom HoLEP procedure had been administered regardless of the size of the prostate in the last 1 year were analysed retrospectively. To evaluate the learning curve, the patients were classified into 4 main groups of 25 consecutively operated patients beginning from the first case. The 4 main groups were divided into 2 subgroups including patients who had prostate volume below or above 80 grams. Results: The mean age of the 100 patients who had HoLEP was 64.5 years. The mean prostate volume was 99.1 cc (45-281 cc). When those with prostate smaller than 80 g are examined, Enucleation efficiency was 0.76 g/min (0.46-0.97 g/min) and Morcellation efficiency was 3.07 g/min (3.34-4 g/min). When those with prostates larger than 80 g are examined, Enucleation efficiency was 0.89 g/min (0.66-1.04 g/min) and Morcellation efficiency was 4.01 g/min (3.93-4.25 g/min). These two parameters were statistically and significantly different in all the 4 groups (p < 0.05). Conclusions: HoLEP still has a steep learning curve. It is necessary to reach the number of cases of 25-50 to reach fundamental experience.
What results should you expect from holmium laser enucleation of the prostate after completing the surgeon’s learning curve? benchmark results from an experienced single surgeon series of patients with large prostate
