Evaluation of the Learning Curve for Thulium Fiber Laser Enucleation of Prostate (ThuFLEP): Retrospective Study of a Single-Surgeon Experience in Real-World Settings

In our study of the learning curve for Thulium Fiber Laser Enucleation of the Prostate (ThuFLEP), we retrospectively analyzed a single surgeon's experience after 80 initial cases. We found that about 60 cases were needed to achieve proficiency with this technique

Interestingly, the surgeon had no prior experience in prostate laser enucleation but saw improvements in his skills for both enucleation and morcellation as early as with the first 20 patients. To note, he performed strong visual training through educative videos of the procedures and benefited from technical supervision for his 4 first procedures from a visiting surgeon highly experienced in this field.

Despite his relative inexperience, the complications remained low throughout the caseload with significant functional outcomes for all patients at 3 months of follow-up. This study aims to encourage surgeons naïve to prostate laser enucleation to take the plunge to start implementing this technique in their center, but necessarily with the help of a mentor for their first procedures in order to avoid harming the patient.

Written by: Moncef Al Barajraji, Department of Urology, CHU Ambroise Paré Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Mons, Belgium

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