ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Oncol. Rev.
Sec. Oncology Reviews: Original Research
This article is part of the Research TopicInnovations in Treating Ureteral Strictures and Upper Urinary Tract IssuesView all 4 articles
Comparison of thulium laser en bloc resection of bladder tumor and transurethral resection of bladder tumor on catheter-related bladder discomfort-A single center experience
Provisionally accepted
- Yinzhou No.2 Hospital, Ningbo, China
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Objective: To Compare the effects between thulium laser en bloc resection of bladder tumor (ERBT) and conventional transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) on catheter-related bladder discomfort (CRBD) in patients with bladder cancer. Methods: Between January 2022 and December 2024, we retrospectively collected the demographic and clinical data for patients with bladder cancer. A total of 79 patients in the conventional TURBT group and 58 patients in the thulium laser ERBT group completed the study. Both demographic and outcome variables were recorded; and we compared the incidence and severity of CRBD at 1, 6 and 24 h postoperatively, score of postoperative pain at 1, 6 and 24h and patient satisfaction at 24h following the surgery. Results: There were no significant differences in age, gender proportion, tumor multiplicity, tumor size and location, and duration of surgery between the two groups (P>0.05). Pathological examination revealed that the ERBT had a higher rate of detrusor presence than TURBT (P=0.04). The incidence and severity of postoperative CRBD were lower in ERBT group than TURBT group at 1 and 6h (P<0.001), while there were no statistically significant difference between the two groups (P=0.17) at 24h. The VAS scores of postoperative pain were significantly lower in ERBT group than in TURBT group at 1 and 6h postoperatively (P=0.001 and P=0.02, respectively). But at 24h, there was no statistically significant difference (P=0.08). As to postoperative patient satisfaction at 24h, the result of ERBT group was significantly lower than TURBT group (P=0.02). Additionally, the ERBT group had significantly less intraoperative blood loss and shorter postoperative irrigation duration (P=0.001). No significant difference was found in the duration of indwelling catheter between the two groups (P=0.07). Conclusions: The results suggest that compared to conventional TURBT, thulium laser ERBT significantly reduce CRBD incidence and severity, lower postoperative pain, and improve postoperative patient satisfaction. However, as a single-center retrospective study, these findings require further validation by large-scale, prospective, multicenter trials.
Keywords: Bladder cancer, Thulium laser, en bloc resection, catheter-related bladderdiscomfort, Transurethal resection of bladder tumor
Received: 25 Jun 2025; Accepted: 27 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gao, Ye, Huang and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Wenbo Gao, gwbmdoc@foxmail.com
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