The new pioneering technology is “quick, predictable and accurate”, allowing patients to be discharged after 24 hours.

HPA Health Group has just announced a new treatment for Benign Prostate Hyperplasia using a robot with a new technology that uses water, the Aquabeam.

The Hospital Particular do Algarve (HPA) – Gambelas, in Faro, is the only unit in Portugal to have one of these robots that use technology to treat urinary symptoms in men and which can be used in all prostate sizes, preserving sexual function and continence.

Aquabeam, using a high-pressure jet of water, clears the urethra and improves urinary symptoms. It is an alternative technology for treating Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia, a very common pathology in men over 50 years old and associated with multiple urinary symptoms.

In technical terms, “the Aquabeam robotic system allows the ablation of prostatic tissue (BPH) using a very high-speed and high-pressure water jet (10,000 PSI), without using any type of thermal energy. Unlike classic endoscopic (P-TURP) or laser surgeries”, explains the HPA Health Group.

This surgical procedure, carried out by an ultrasound-guided robotic system, is controlled by the surgeon through ultrasound and the cystoscopy image in real-time, “planning the personalised treatment and delimiting the prostatic tissue to be removed by the robot”, they describe.

According to urologist and professor Tiago Rodrigues, “in addition to the precision and effectiveness that this robot gives us, it allows us to perform more interventions per day. It is safer and has better results, and it is also very rewarding to watch the patient’s rapid recovery”.

Once all parameters are integrated, the robot performs the procedure “quickly, predictably and accurately (less than five minutes – while current methods take about an hour and 30 min)”. When the intervention is over, a catheter is placed in the bladder. It is usually removed the next day, and the patient is discharged after 24 hours.

According to the HPA, “in addition to shorter hospitalisation time, the preservation of sexual function and reduced blood loss are important benefits”.

César Santos, Director of the HPA Health Group and director of the Gambelas unit, assures: “we are always on the lookout for innovation that will allow us to offer our patients quality services”.

In 2022, “we were the first unit in the country to perform Prostatic Biopsies by micro-ultrasound and Transrectal Prostatic Micro-Echography in high definition. We also started Low-Intensity Shockwave therapy for erectile dysfunction,” he points out.

He concludes that “this new robot reinforces our position of excellence in the care we provide”.