Trans Urethral Needle Ablation for Benign Prostate Hypertrophy (TUNA)


Email Raji.Kooner@svha.org.au or call 02 8382 6980 for a confidential appointment.

The other non-invasive treatment for BPH is TUNA, trans urethral needle ablation, where we put an instrument into the prostate, you’ll have some needles inserted into the prostate, radiofrequency waves go through these needles into the prostate, again the prostate swells, and then with time it shrinks back and you can pass urine.

Unfortunately, it seems to be that this treatment has a high retreatment rate1 and also patients have a lot of trouble passing urine initially / mild hematuria (blood in urine)2.

The advantage of it is that it has a lower retrograde ejaculation rate2.

References

1. TransUrethral Needle Ablation (TUNA) for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia - Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC) - http://www.msac.gov.au/internet/msac/publishing.nsf/Content/7CCD40DCEF91D195CA25801000123B47/$File/1014%20-%20TransUrethral%20Needle%20Ablation%20Report.pdf
2. Hossam Haroun, Hassan Eltatawy, M. G. Soliman - Evaluation of outcome of transurethral needle ablation for treating symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia: A 10-year experience - Urol Ann. 2019 Apr-Jun; 11(2): 198–203. doi: 10.4103/UA.UA_99_18