What kind of recovery can expected after HoLEP at age of 72

Hi,
I had HoLEP surgery last year age 69, catheter for 4 days, little bleeding and discomfort but healed in 2 week completely. Good Luck!

@mauk Thank you very much, I will be going for surgery 18 days later at Jacksonville , Fl atMayo Clinic. Discomfort should more tolerable if it is not associated with signfican pain

Hi, I had HoLep at age 74 at Mayo Phoenix a little over a year ago My prostate size was 134. The surgery was uneventful, and had a catheter place overnight. The next morning it was removed. There was absolutely no pain at any time pre or post surgery. Blood in my urine stopped completely after three days. My issue was incontinence. It got better each week, but it did take 7 months to fully resolve. I had the help of a wonderful pelvic floor PT.
It is such a great feeling to be done with all of my past pee issues. Having HoLep surgery was a game changer. I trusted in the process, and the result was great. My only advice is to do your kegels.

@wally920 Thank you very much, My prostate is 110 to 119 G. I have no major issue except waking up 2 or3 times at night. So debated for long time as the case for surgey has not been too strong Howwver taking flomax, proscar for last 12+ years . Thantks for the tip of the Pelvic floor physical therapy , something my urologists never suggested !

In my experience the docs tend to downplay the potential for incontinence. I found the PT critical. I found her on my own and started with her before I had Holep performed. That way, we were aligned post surgery.

I would ask about incontinence. I had Holep 15 months ago and still have significant incontinence problems. Did the PT and still doing kegels. prostate about 95, age 67, told I was young and healthy, no problem. Wrong, big problems ever since. Do not know if it was the doctor or something else. The Dr. who did the surgery at Penn State Health in Hershey Pa. Did not want to have anything to do with me after my six month check up at which time I was still fighting significant incontinence problems. Now they are talking artificial urinary sphincter surgery. I wish I could go back and have a do over. The incontinence statistics are much worse than what I was told at the time before surgery. Another dr. told me the instruments for this procedure are large and stretch the sphincter. He does not do Holep. Hopefully Mayo will provide an outcome of success.

@wally920 completely agree with downplay. It’s really unethical that they don’t speak frankly about what are very possible side effects.

Agree on incontinence risk. Hate to say it but I get the impression that this costly operation is very profitable for the docs.

Had Holep completed 1 year + 8 months ago with Dr Dora at Mayo Jax. Surgery included a Botox injection (ask about it). Was 69 athletic, very active. Managing BPH with meds but urinary urgency, frequency was increasing and becoming problematic impacting my life. Also had 2 instances of Acute Urinary Retention over a few year period both requiring ER trips. Afternoon surgery. Spent night in an on site medical hotel. If you can it’s good to have someone with you post op as you will be a bit loopy and have a catheter in. Next afternoon catheter removed. Wore adult diaper for 2 days then a thick pad for a few days and then a thin pad for a few weeks to absorb a bit of incontinance which resolved over time. Work on your entire course b4 and after surgery. I was healing great but suffered an unexpected setback at 30 days. Pain, urgency returned. Drs said stay the course as this sometimes occurs. It resolved after a week or so. Everyone heals differently and with varying time frames. Make sure you follow the post op instructions. Having the surgery gave me my normal life back. Extremely glad I had it done. Mayo was fantastic.

I had Holep surgery in about 2021 at Northwestern Hospital in Chicago by Dr. Amy Krambeck. My experience has been great. The procedure and recovery went well, and I have had no complications since. I do have retrograde ejaculation, but I knew that would happen, and have learned to live with that (not the biggest deal). I see my local urologist several times a year to check on things and make sure I am emptying my bladder and to monitor for possible cancer. I attribute my great results to the skill of Dr. Krambeck, who back in 2021 had done many thousand of this kind of procedure, and presumably has done thousands since. However, I know from this blog that I am lucky. Best of luck to you.