Comparing Water Vapour Thermal Therapy (Rezūm) and TURP

November 10, 2026 updated by: CHIU Ka Fung Peter, Chinese University of Hong Kong

A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Water Vapour Thermal Therapy (Rezūm) and TURP in Men With Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia in Refractory Urinary Retention

This is a randomized controlled trial using a non-inferiority design with the subjects randomized 1:1 to either water vapour thermal treatment (REZUM) arm or transurethral resection of prostate (TURP) arm.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

108

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

      • Hong Kong, Hong Kong
        • Prince of Wales Hospital, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

50 years to 80 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Male

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Men 50-80 years
  • Refractory urinary retention related to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)
  • On urethral Foley's catheter or clean intermittent self-catheterization (CISC) before treatment
  • Prostate size 30-80ml on ultrasound

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Prior prostate operation
  • Past or current history of prostate cancer
  • Strong suspicion of prostate cancer (e.g. Elevated PSA before urinary retention or abnormal prostate on DRE without workup for prostate cancer)
  • Known Urethral stricture / Bladder stone / Hypocontractile bladder
  • Known neurological diseases which may affect bladder function (e.g. Parkinsonism, stroke)
  • Contraindicated to undergo TURP or REZUM (e.g. not fit for GA/SA, active urinary tract infection, fail to be placed in lithotomy position, uncorrectable coagulopathy, antiplatelet or anticoagulant which cannot be stopped)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Rezūm

In the REZUM arm, water vapour treatment is performed for all subjects under local anaesthesia.

Active Comparator: TURP

In the TURP arm, all men will receive TURP operation under general or spinal anaesthesia

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) at 12 months after treatment
Time Frame: 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after intervention

IPSS score ranging from 0-35 (the higher the worse)

3 months, 6 months and 12 months after intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Successful trial without catheter (TWOC) within 3 months
Time Frame: At 3 months

Percentage of patients successfully TWOC

At 3 months
Complication rate
Time Frame: 30 days after intervention

Assessed by Clavien-Dindo classification

30 days after intervention
Post-op quality of life score
Time Frame: 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after intervention

Change in quality of life assessed by change in International Prostate QOL score (ranges from 0 to 6, the higher the worse)

3 months, 6 months and 12 months after intervention
Change in voiding function in uroflowmetry
Time Frame: 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after intervention

It is assessed by maximum flow rate and post void volume in uroflowmetry

3 months, 6 months and 12 months after intervention
Post-op Erectile Function Domain of the International Index of Erectile Function score
Time Frame: 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after intervention

Score 1-5 (the lower the worse)

3 months, 6 months and 12 months after intervention
Hospital stays of procedure
Time Frame: During hospitalization, assessed at discharge

Measure the hours of in-patient hospitalisation

During hospitalization, assessed at discharge
Unplanned readmission rate after operation in 30 days
Time Frame: 30 days after intervention

Percentage of patients with unplanned readmission

30 days after intervention
Bladder outlet obstruction index (BOOI) by Urodynamic studies
Time Frame: Performed at 12 months after treatment
Performed at 12 months after treatment
Bladder contractility index (BCI) by Urodynamic studies
Time Frame: Performed at 12 months after treatment
Performed at 12 months after treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Collaborators

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Peter Ka-Fung CHIU, FRCS, PhD, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

May 1, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 30, 2026

Study Completion (Actual)

June 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 28, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 28, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

March 9, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 12, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 10, 2026

Last Verified

November 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • CRE-2022.537-T

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.