Thanks for the questions. Rezum has good longer term data now showing retreatment required in about 10% of patients after 4 years (half restart medications, the other half undergo an additional procedure). This is very comparable to other technologies or approaches including TURP and laser therapy etc. Rezum can be done in the office for some patients and has the benefit of having low risk of causing sexual side effects. In my practice, all patients keep a catheter for at least 3 days after Rezum with that duration increasing based on prostate size, number of steam treatments required and baseline bladder strength. The reason why is that the procedure causes some inflammation in the area but the treatments do not immediately remove tissue like traditional laser or TURP procedures. Peak treatment effect typically occurs 4-6 weeks after treatment. Based on our experience over the last 5 years in Rochester, the vast majority would opt to undergo the procedure again (97%). It is very important to be proactive with prostate and bladder health - 1 in 7 men come to the Urologist with a bladder (the urine pump) that is already very weak - this limits your surgical options and sometimes forces men to catheterize to empty their bladders. With lower risks of new prostate procedures such as Rezum, I believe healthcare needs to shift patients away from long term prostate medications which may not prevent the bladder from getting weaker.

Keep the questions coming,

Dr Kohler

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