Victoria’s first laser of its kind introduced at St John of God Berwick Hospital

24 Oct 2018

24 October 2018 

The laser is used to assist urological surgeons to reduce the size of enlarged prostates and reduce troublesome kidney stones to dust.

It also aims to improve the effectiveness of treatment of urinary stones, with potentially only one treatment needed instead of two or three.

Surgery times are also shortened and in some cases it can even reduce the length of hospital stays.

St John of God Berwick Hospital Chief Executive Officer Lisa Norman said the device offered patients the most up-to-date treatment and care options available.

“We have made a considerable investment in this technology to enable us to provide a broader range of urological services to our community," she said.

"It also allows our urologists to offer the best possible treatment options to their patients."

Urologist Shekib Shahbaz, who first used the new laser in August, said the new technology had helped make his services more accessible to his patients.

“I was able to treat a patient with a very large renal stone who previously would have required an open procedure or treatment at another hospital," he said.

Urologist Tony De Sousa, who was also present at the surgery, said this technology was offering more options to patients.

“To be able to offer this surgery to patients is so beneficial. We are able to treat a more complex case closer to home. It also means we can treat patients quicker, with less risk and get them home faster," he said.

The laser has a suction device that sucks the stone into position to enable more targeted destruction. It can also be used to perform holmium laser prostate surgery (HoLEP)─a minimally invasive procedure to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).