Interventional procedure overview of image-guided transperineal laser ablation (TPLA) for treating lower urinary tract symptoms caused by benign prostatic hyperplasia

Appendix A: Methods and literature search strategy

Methods and literature search strategy 

NICE has identified studies and reviews relevant to transperineal laser ablation (TPLA) for treating lower urinary tract symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia using an ultra-micro invasive approach from the medical literature. Relevant published studies identified during consultation or resolution that are published after this date may also be considered for inclusion. 

Search strategy design and peer review 

This search report is informed by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses literature search extension (PRISMA-S). 

A NICE information specialist ran the literature searches on 24/01/2024. See the search strategy history for the full search strategy for each database. 

The principal search strategy was developed in MEDLINE ALL (Ovid interface). It was adapted for use in each of the databases listed in table 4a, taking into account the database's size, search functionality and subject coverage. The MEDLINE ALL strategy was quality assured by a NICE senior information specialist. All translated search strategies were peer reviewed to ensure their accuracy. The quality assurance and peer review procedures were adapted from the Peer Review of Electronic Search Strategies (PRESS) 2015 evidence-based checklist. 

Review management 

The search results were managed in EPPI Reviewer version 5 (EPPIR5). Duplicates were removed in EPPIR5 using a 2step process. First, automated deduplication was done using a high-value algorithm. Second, manual deduplication was used to assess low-probability matches. All decisions about inclusion, exclusion and deduplication were recorded and stored. 

Limits and restrictions  

The CENTRAL database search removed trial registry records and conference material. The Embase search excluded conference material.  

The limit to remove animal studies in the searches is standard NICE practice, which has been adapted from Dickersin K, Scherer R, Lefebvre C (1994) Systematic Reviews: Identifying relevant studies for systematic reviews. BMJ 309(6964): 1286. 

Main search 

Table 4a Main search results 

Search strategy history 

Medline all search strategy 

1, Prostatic Hyperplasia/, 24,415 

2, (Prostat* adj4 (hyperplas* or enlarge* or hypertroph* or obstruct* or enlarge* or urethra*)).tw., 28,232 

3, (BPH or BPO or BPE or BOO).tw., 17,714 

4, Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms/, 4,307 

5, (Low* adj4 urinar* adj4 tract* adj4 symptom*).tw., 10,925 

6, LUTS.tw., 5,480 

7, Prostatism/, 562 

8, Prostatis*.tw., 724 

9, Urinary Bladder Neck Obstruction/, 4,752 

10, ((Bladder* or urinat* or urinar* or urethra*) adj4 (outflow* or outlet* or neck*) adj4 (obstruct* or block* or narrow*)).tw., 4,755 

11, or/1-10, 52,462 

12, Laser Therapy/, 40,989 

13, (Laser* adj4 (therap* or ablat*)).tw., 28,133 

14, or/12-13, 60,432 

15, Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures/, 30,156 

16, ((minimal* or non*) adj4 invasive* adj4 (surg* or procedur* or techniq*)).tw., 65,198 

17, 15 or 16, 82,431 

18, 11 and 14 and 17, 149 

19, SoracteLite.tw., 7 

20, Echolaser.tw., 10 

21, TPLA.tw., 64 

22, (transperin* or trans-perin* or trans perin*).tw., 3,588 

23, 14 and 22, 48 

24, 19 or 20 or 21 or 23, 93 

25, 18 or 24, 229 

26, Animals/ not Humans/, 5,154,582 

27, 25 not 26, 218 

28, limit 27 to english language, 211 

Embase search strategy 

1 , prostate hypertrophy/ , 42,844  

2 , lower urinary tract symptom/ , 19,922  

3 , bladder obstruction/ , 4,775  

4 , prostatism/ , 1,013  

5 , (Prostat* adj4 (hyperplas* or hypertroph* or adenoma* or urethra* or enlarg* or disease*)).tw. , 49,646  

6 , ((bladder* or urinat* or urinar* or urethra*) adj4 (neck* or outflow* or outlet*) adj4 (obstruct* or block* or narrow*)).tw. , 7,214  

7 , (LUTS or (low* adj4 urinar* adj4 tract* adj4 symptom*)).tw. , 20,168  

8 , (BPO or BPH or BPE or BOO or prostatism*).tw. , 26,890  

9 , or/1-8 , 91,235  

10 , laser therapy/ , 4,456  

11 , (laser* adj4 (therap* or ablat*)).tw. , 35,693  

12 , 10 or 11 , 38,555  

13 , minimally invasive surgery/ , 56,181  

14 , ((minimall* or non) adj4 invasive adj4 (surg* or treatment* or technolog* or procedure* or technique*)).tw. , 110,528  

15 , (MIST or UMIST).tw. , 3,896  

16 , or/13-15 , 143,160  

17 , 9 and 12 and 16 , 129  

18 , SoracteLite.tw,dv,dm. , 20  

19 , Echolaser.tw,dv,dm. , 82  

20 , TPLA.tw,dv,dm. , 111  

21 , or/18-20 , 163  

22 , (transperin* or trans-perin*).tw. , 6,669  

23 , 12 and 22 , 113  

24 , 21 or 23 , 219  

25 , 17 or 24 , 320  

26 , Nonhuman/ not Human/ , 5,370,887  

27 , 25 not 26 , 305  

28 , (conference abstract* or conference review or conference paper or conference proceeding).db,pt,su. , 5,817,256  

29 , 27 not 28 , 165  

30 , 27 and 28 , 140  

  
Cochrane search strategy 

1 MeSH descriptor: [Prostatic Hyperplasia] explode all trees 2391 

#2 MeSH descriptor: [Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms] this term only 645 

#3 MeSH descriptor: [Urinary Bladder Neck Obstruction] explode all trees 218 

#4 MeSH descriptor: [Prostatism] explode all trees 92 

#5 (Prostat* near/4 (hyperplas* or hypertroph* or adenoma* or urethra* or enlarg* or disease*)) 6511 

#6 ((bladder* or urinat* or urinar* or urethra*) near/4 (neck* or outflow* or outlet*) adj4 (obstruct* or block* or narrow*)) 5 

#7 (LUTS or (low* near/4 urinar* near/4 tract* near/4 symptom*)) 3321 

#8 (BPO or BPH or BPE or BOO or prostatism*) 3521 

#9 #1 or #2 or #3 or #4 or #5 or #6 or #7 or #8 8936 

#10 MeSH descriptor: [Laser Therapy] explode all trees 6011 

#11 (laser* adj4 (therap* or ablat*)) 53 

#12 #10 or #11 6059 

#13 MeSH descriptor: [Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures] explode all trees 43646 

#14 ((minimall* or non) near/4 invasive near/4 (surg* or treatment* or technolog* or procedure* or technique*)) 10838 

#15 (MIST or UMIST) 919 

#16 #13 or #14 or #15 52937 

#17 #9 and #12 and #16 41 

#18 SoracteLite 1 

#19 Echolaser 3 

#20 TPLA 15 

#21 #18 or #19 or #20 16 

#22 (transperin* or trans-perin*) 463 

#23 #12 and #22 5 

#24 #21 or #23 17 

#25 #17 or #24 55 

#26 conference:pt or (clinicaltrials or trialsearch or clinicaltrials.gov or www.who.int) 778969 

#27 #25 not #26 46 

INAHTA search strategy 

"Prostatic Hyperplasia"[mhe], 90  

2, "Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms"[mh], 8  

3, "Urinary Bladder Neck Obstruction"[mhe], 9  

4, "Prostatism"[mhe], 0  

5, (Prostat* AND (hyperplas* or hypertroph* or adenoma* or urethra* or enlarg* or disease*)), 172  

6, (bladder* or urinat* or urinar* or urethra*) AND (neck* or outflow* or outlet*) AND (obstruct* or block* or narrow*)), 10  

7, LUTS or (low* AND urinar* AND tract* AND symptom*)), 23  

8, (BPO or BPH or BPE or BOO or prostatism*), 38  

9, #8 OR #7 OR #6 OR #5 OR #4 OR #3 OR #2 OR #1, 204  

10, "Laser Therapy"[mhe], 195  

11, (laser* AND (therap* or ablat*)), 150  

12, #11 OR #10, 281  

13, "Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures"[mhe], 857  

14, ((minimall* or non) AND invasive and (surg* or treatment* or technolog* or procedure* or technique*)), 442  

15, (MIST or UMIST), 10  

16, #15 OR #14 OR #13, 1232  

17, #16 AND #12 AND #9, 193  

18, SoracteLite, 0  

19, Echolaser, 0  

20, TPLA, 0  

21, #20 OR #19 OR #18, 0  

22, (transperin* or trans-perin*), 5  

23, #22 AND #12, 1  

24, #23 OR #21, 1  

25, #24 OR #17, 193  

Inclusion criteria 

The following inclusion criteria were applied to the abstracts identified by the literature search. 

If selection criteria could not be determined from the abstracts the full paper was retrieved. 

Find out more about how NICE selects the evidence for the committee.