The well-known local urologist, Dr André Cronje, made history when he performed the first Rezum procedure for North West, at MooiMed Hospital on 24 October.

Dr Cronje, an expert urologist, had been treating an elderly patient presenting with benign prostatic hyperplasia for quite some time.

Rezum procedure was used due to the following factors:

• The patient does not have the ideal profile for invasive surgery, as he is of advanced age,
• He is on blood thinners
• He presents impaired renal function.

When the patient’s condition reached a point causing blockage of the bladder, immediate intervention was required. Fortunately, the timeframe aligned with Dr Cronje’s international Rezum certification.

Rezum is an alternative to the standard TURP (transurethral resection of the prostate) and is new to South Africa, having only been performed for about a month now. Dr Cronje is the first to have performed the procedure in the North West Province and, true to his fine skill and experience, very successfully so.

Rezum is a minimally invasive transurethral water vapour therapy for benign prostatic enlargement, which uses thermal energy for treatment. Here is how the procedure works:

• The procedure makes use of steam injections via transurethral access into the transitional prostatic zone to thermally ablate the tissue.
• In laymen’s terms, water is inserted into the prostate at high temperatures, causing necrosis of, and essentially evaporating, the prostate.

Arguably the greatest benefit of Rezum, is the fact that the procedure is short. Whereas TURP would typically take anything from 45 to 60 minutes – in some cases even longer – Rezum can be successfully performed in as little as 8 minutes and, unlike TURP, involves no cutting or bleeding. This makes it the ideal procedure, especially for high-risk patients, i.e. patients of advanced age, with underlying illness or taking blood thinners.

Interesting information on the procedure:

• Although the procedure is performed under general anaesthesia, the patient is discharged on the same day, given preventative antibiotics and pain-relief medication, and returns after a few days, depending on the size of the prostate, for removal of the catheter.
• Internationally, the procedure is performed under local anaesthetic or in the consulting room using a pain block, as it is minimally invasive and doctors are always aiming to minimise cost.
• South African urologists definitely hope to move in that direction in the very near future, as they constantly strive to protect the patient from undergoing unnecessary interventions.

MooiMed Private Hospital proudly thanks and congratulates the impeccably skilled Dr Cronje for bringing this ground-breaking procedure to the North West and, specifically, to MooiMed. Dr Cronje has shared that the patient was discharged less than 24 hours post-op and that both doctor and patient are happy with the immediate outcome of the procedure.

“We look forward to seeing Rezum as the standard technology and methodology for the treatment of prostatic conditions in the near future.”