COVINGTON – St. Tammany Health System has become the second in the region and the first on the Northshore to offer robotic-assisted Aquablation therapy, a minimally invasive treatment for lower urinary tract symptoms due to an enlarged prostate.
Enabling surgeons to better preserve a patient’s sexual function and continence by removing part of the prostate tissue while avoiding critical structures, Aquablation therapy has been proven in clinical studies to offer predictable and reproducible outcomes, independent of prostate anatomy, prostate size or surgeon experience.
The procedure is performed with use of the AquaBeam Robotic System, the first FDA-cleared, surgical robot utilizing automated tissue resection for the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms due to enlarged prostate.
Combining both cystoscopic visualization – a procedure a doctor uses to look at the inside of the bladder and urethra – and ultrasound imaging, surgeons can create a personalized treatment plan tailored to each patient’s anatomy. Once the map is complete, the robotically controlled, heat-free waterjet removes part of the prostate tissue.
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), or an enlarged prostate, is a non-cancerous condition in which the prostate has grown to be larger than normal. About half of men ages 51 to 60 have BPH, and the incidence increases every decade of life.
If left untreated, BPH can cause significant health problems, including irreversible bladder or kidney damage, bladder stones and incontinence.
Until now, BPH surgical treatments have often forced men to tradeoff between symptom relief and side effects, limiting patients to choose between either a high degree of symptom relief with high rates of irreversible complications such as incontinence, erectile dysfunction or ejaculatory dysfunction, or a low degree of symptom relief with low rates of irreversible complications.
St. Tammany Health System's purchase of the Aquablation system was made possible through the generosity of donors to St. Tammany Hospital Foundation.
Talk to your urologist to find out if Aquablation is right for you, and visit StTammany.health for more information on St. Tammany Health System.
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About St. Tammany Health System
The heartbeat of its community, St. Tammany Health System cares for patients and families with excellence, compassion and teamwork. It is nationally recognized for quality, safety and service excellence by CareChex, Leapfrog, Healthgrades, Hospital Compare, Women’s Choice and US News & World Report. The health system is home to 281-bed St. Tammany Parish Hospital Service District No. 1, three diagnostic centers and 12 medical clinics throughout western St. Tammany Parish. Self-supporting, not-for-profit STHS is AA- rated by Fitch and receives no tax funding. More at StTammany.health.
About Procept BioRobotics
Procept BioRobotics is a surgical robotics company focused on advancing patient care by developing transformative solutions in urology. Procept develops, manufactures and sells the AquaBeam Robotic System, an advanced, image-guided, surgical robotic system for use in minimally-invasive urologic surgery with an initial focus on treating benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH.