An 82-year-old retired professor from the Indian Institute of Science, who spent a lifetime shaping young minds, suffered from urinary difficulties due to a severely enlarged prostate—also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH. The condition blocked his urine flow so much that he had to depend on a catheter for the most basic function.

However, he also suffered various other comorbidities—including a heart condition, which required him to be on lifelong blood thinners. Doctors then tried vapour therapy or the Rezūm procedure—a minimally invasive solution that could be performed without interrupting his consumption of anticoagulants.

According to doctors who treated the professor, the procedure involves a special instrument that uses steam to shrink the enlarged areas of the prostate. The instrument goes through your urethra, so you won’t have incisions or need stitches. "Unlike conventional surgeries, Rezum doesn’t involve cutting or removing prostate tissue. It uses controlled blasts of steam, delivered through a tiny device via the urinary passage, to shrink the enlarged prostate, thereby relieving urinary obstruction," Dr Deepak Dubey, head of the department and consultant in uro-oncology robotic surgery and renal transplantation, told Times Now.

Dr Dubey said the procedure was performed successfully as a simple daycare intervention and the professor was discharged from the hospital within a day. Within a span of two weeks, his prostate had shrunk enough for the catheter to be removed, so he could finally pass urine normally again. And now, three months after the surgery, he has been living independently, relieved from urinary symptoms, with no complications or need to adjust his blood thinner regimen.

According to Dr Deepak, “Rezum water vapour therapy is simple, yet highly effective for elderly patients and even for younger men with enlarged prostates. It does not require hospitalisation and does not interfere with heart medications like blood thinners and preserves sexual function, which is a common disadvantage in other prostate surgeries.”

“With advances like Rezum, we can now offer safer, simpler, and effective treatment with fewer risks and faster recovery, so men can get back to living their lives,” he added.

The Rezūm therapy takes place at a clinic before which the patient may be instructed to use the restroom. Thereafter, you may use the local anaesthetic to numb your urethra and prostate to make you more comfortable during the procedure. According to experts, a handheld device with a long, thin tube at the end will be inserted into your urethra.

A tiny needle would then release from the end of the tube and deliver steam into the enlarged areas of your prostate. The steam destroys the prostate cells, causing the enlarged areas to shrink. Rezūm therapy usually takes about 30 minutes. Each individual treatment takes about 10 seconds. Up to 15 treatments can be given during one procedure.

Even though rezūm therapy is a relatively new procedure and was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2015, medical outcome studies indicate that Rezūm therapy effectively treats BPH symptoms for at least five years.

Though the Rezūm procedure is relatively safe, there are a few risks, including: