Does ThuLEP surgery result in a shorter hospital stay compared to RASP for large BPH?
For men with large benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), both ThuLEP (a laser procedure) and RASP (robot-assisted simple prostatectomy) are effective surgical options. One key difference is how long you stay in the hospital afterward. Evidence suggests that ThuLEP often leads to a shorter hospital stay compared to RASP, but results vary depending on the specific technique and patient factors.
What the research says
A meta-analysis of 15 studies (2,231 patients) found that laser enucleation (including ThuLEP) was associated with a shorter hospital stay than RASP for large-volume BPH. Specifically, ThuLEP reduced hospital stay by an average of 2.43 days compared to RASP 1. This finding is supported by another large meta-analysis of over 6,500 patients, which reported that laser enucleation (HoLEP/ThuLEP) had a significantly shorter length of stay than RASP 11.
However, a single-surgeon retrospective study comparing ThuLEP to single-port RASP found no difference in hospital stay (median 0 days for both groups) 9. This suggests that with certain minimally invasive RASP techniques, the hospital stay can be very short and comparable to ThuLEP.
Other studies confirm that ThuLEP is associated with shorter operative times and catheter duration compared to RASP 11011, which may contribute to a quicker recovery and discharge. For example, a 2025 study found pulsed ThuLEP reduced total surgery time by about 6 minutes compared to HoLEP 10, though this is a smaller difference than the 90-minute difference seen between ThuLEP and RASP in some studies 9.
What to ask your doctor
- Based on my prostate size and overall health, which procedure (ThuLEP or RASP) would you recommend for me?
- What is the typical hospital stay for each procedure at your center?
- How does your experience with ThuLEP and RASP compare to the outcomes reported in recent studies?
- Are there any factors in my medical history that might make one procedure safer or more effective for me?
- What are the expected recovery times and catheter durations for each option?
This question is drawn from common patient questions about Urology and answered using cited medical research. We do not provide individualized advice.