a pill and a TURP," says Peter Walter, MD, FACS, of Western New
York Urology Associates. Dr. Walter has performed the procedure
more than 650 times. The procedure is popular in part because it
doesn't negatively impact the ability to achieve or maintain erections
or ejaculate.
"One of the really nice aspects about this procedure is we can get
most of patients off medications that have significant side effects,"
says Dr. Walter. "Often, the adverse effects of medications, especially
when patients are taking several, aren't known until years after
they've been taking them."
Dr. Walter underwent a prostatic urethral lift before performing the
procedure himself. "I was in my early 50s and started having some
symptoms of BPH," he says. "Knowing what I know about the medica-
tions and the TURP, I knew I didn't want any part of either of those."
3. Options in eye
Fifty years ago, cataract surgeries were done in hospitals. Forty years
ago, they began to transition to hospital outpatient departments.
Thirty years ago, their movement into free-standing ambulatory sur-
gery centers. Now, office suites are popping up across the country
that could make office-based cataract surgery the next big thing in eye
surgery.
"For the most part they are still done in the operating room, but
there are some doctors who are part of a new trend who are perform-
ing cataract surgery in their offices," says Eric Donnenfeld, MD, a
cataract specialist in Long Island, New York. "There is a movement
there."
Pterygium surgery is another noninvasive eye procedure that could
be a good candidate for the office, according to Amy VanDenBrook,
MD, an ophthalmologist with Rosin EyeCare in Chicago. The opera-
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