Complications of anatomical endoscopic enucleation of the prostate in real-life practice: What we learnt from the 6,193 patients from the Refinement in Endoscopic Anatomical enucleation of Prostate registry.

Introduction: Anatomical endoscopic enucleation of the prostate (AEEP) is a guideline-recommended treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). We aimed to analyze postoperative complications and outcomes within a large real-world database.

Material and methods: The Refinement in Endoscopic Anatomical enucleation of Prostate (REAP) registry includes patients who received AEEP for BPH in 8 centers worldwide from January 2020 to January 2022. Exclusion criteria included previous prostate/urethral surgery, prostate cancer, pelvic radiotherapy, and concomitant lower urinary tract surgery (internal urethrotomy, cystolithotripsy, or transurethral resection of bladder tumor). The primary outcome was postoperative incontinence; secondary outcomes included early complications (<30 days) and late complications (>30 days).

Results: We analyzed 6,193 patients; the mean age was 68 years. Thulium laser was used in 37% and high-power holmium laser in 32%. Median operation time was 67 min [IQR 50-95 min]. The 2-lobe enucleation technique was utilized in 49%, and en-bloc resection was utilized in 39%. Early postoperative complications included urinary tract infection (4.7%), acute urinary retention (4.1%), post-operative bleeding requiring additional intervention (0.9%), and sepsis requiring intensive care admission (0.1%). The incidence of postoperative incontinence was 14.8%, of which 54% were stress incontinence; 84% cases resolved by 3 months. On univariate and multivariate analysis, prostate volume >100 ml was a significant predictor of postoperative incontinence. Late complications such as bulbar urethral stricture, bladder neck sclerosis, and need for redo BPH surgery each occurred in <1% of patients.

Conclusions: Analysis of the real-world REAP database shows favorable safety outcomes for AEEP, with a low incidence of serious complications and postoperative incontinence beyond 3 months.