Bladder cancer patients treated same day with laser

Patients are sent home the same day as the treatment

Doctors are using a portable hand held laser device to treat patients with small bladder cancer tumours, with the patient able to go home on the same day.

Urology consultants in Somerset started performing the Trans Urethral Laser Ablation procedure (TULA), at Yeovil Hospital last year.

It is now being performed at Musgrove Park Hospital.

Dr Sanjit Das, laser treatment lead and urology consultant at Yeovil Hospital, said: “The TULA device is already making a huge difference to both the experience and recovery after surgery for our patients."

'Significant change'

The treatment is the latest in a series of day case procedures that are being offered to patients by Somerset NHS Foundation Trust.

It hopes to improve patient experience and free up beds for those who need a longer stay in hospital.

People with these type of small tumours have traditionally needed to have surgery under general anaesthetic, but the laser procedure allows surgeons to provide treatment in a far less invasive way.

Dr Das said: “It reduces the time a patient has to wait to be seen, as if the doctor detects a reoccurrence in a bladder tumour at their regular surveillance cystoscopy appointment, a biopsy will be taken there and then.

“If a tumour is detected, then the laser is used to completely remove any abnormal tissue and stop any bleeding.

"The laser fibre is extremely thin, and the procedure takes between 10 and 20 minutes."

Dr Das said after the treatment the patients receive a single dose of antibiotics before being sent home on the same day.

He said it was a "significant change" from a previous arrangement.

“It also means the patient doesn’t need to come back at a later date for a general anaesthetic and hospital stay, which would understandably cause them to become anxious.

“And patients don’t need any special preparation before coming in for this laser treatment as an outpatient – they can eat and drink as normal on the day,” he added.