Alternative approaches to endoscopic ablation for benign enlargement of the prostate: systematic review of randomised controlled trials

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness and risk profile of newer methods for endoscopic ablation of the prostate against the current standard of transurethral resection. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. DATA SOURCES: Electronic and paper records in subject area up to March 2006. REVIEW METHODS: We searched for randomised controlled trials of endoscopic ablative interventions that included transurethral resection of prostate as one of the treatment arms. Two reviewers independently extracted data and assessed quality. Meta-analyses of prespecified outcomes were done using fixed and random effects models and reported using relative risk or weighted mean difference. RESULTS: We identified 45 randomised controlled trials meeting the inclusion criteria and reporting on 3970 participants. The reports were of moderate to poor quality, with…