HIFU New and Improved Non-invasive treatment for Prostate cancer now available at affordable cost at World Class Hospitals in India.

HIGH intensity Focussed Ultrasound or HIFU in short is all set to become the preferred choice of management of prostate cancer. The reasons are simple – short procedure of couple of hours, early discharge, faster recovery and back to normal routine activities within a week. On top of all this it is non-invasive which means no injury to skin and muscles, almost bloodless and minimal side effects. The procedure has been used in a few patients in SafeMedTrip’snetwork hospitals in India with excellent results.
Prostate cancer is most often diagnosed in men over 50, and the risk rises with age. The common symptoms are pain when passing urine, frequent urination, a sense of not completely emptying the bladder, blood in the urine and semen or bone pain. The standard protocol for prostate cancer is Radical prostatectomy which involves removal of the gland along with nearby lymph nodes. The recovery period is longer and patient may end up with urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction.

To overcome these complications, Urologists in India are trying out the High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU), latest technique that does not require the removal of the entire prostate gland. Instead, it cooks the prostate tissue with ultrasound beams, passed by a robotic arm through the patient’s rectum, destroying and evaporating all the cancerous cells. The temperature is rapidly increased to 90 degrees Celsius in a matter of seconds which destroys the tissue. As this is an image guided procedure, the surgeon can see the inside of the prostate gland which helps the specialist treat the cancer precisely.

HIFU is usually a single procedure performed under regional or general anaesthesia, and it can be repeated if needed. It is best suited to prostates of moderate size.