Blankenship now offers aquablation therapy at Marshall Health Network

Justyn Blankenship, D.O., a board-certified urologist at Marshall Health, performs an aquablation procedure at Cabell Huntington Hospital.

Justyn Blankenship, D.O., a Marshall Health urologist, now offers Aquablation therapy, the newest surgical treatment available for men with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), or the common condition known as an enlarged prostate.

Unlike traditional surgical methods, Aquablation is a minimally-invasive outpatient procedure performed at Cabell Huntington Hospital that allows for reduced pain, shorter recovery times and improved overall patient outcomes.

“Aquablation uses the power of water delivered with robotic precision to provide long-lasting relief for BPH,” said Blankenship, who also serves as an assistant professor of urology at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine. “This minimally-invasive technique provides patients with a new way to treat the most common reason men visit the urologist: an enlarged prostate.”

Aquablation therapy combines real-time, multi-dimensional imaging, automated robotics and heat-free waterjet ablation that enables urologists to precisely target and remove prostate tissue while preserving surrounding healthy structures, minimizing the risk of complications. With this technology, surgeons create a personalized treatment plan tailored to each patient. Once the map is complete, the robotically controlled waterjet removes the damaged prostate tissue, avoiding critical structures to preserve sexual function and continence.

“Since 2021, our health system has been proud to lead the Tri-State region in offering a solution for men with BPH that provides significant, long-lasting symptom relief with lower risk to their sexual function or continence,” Blankenship said. “Aquablation therapy is the next step in furthering our commitment to robotic surgery and men’s health at Marshall Health Network.”

BPH, or an enlarged prostate, is a condition in which the prostate has grown larger than normal size. One in two men ages 51 to 60 have BPH, and the incidence increases every decade of life. If left untreated, BPH can cause significant health problems, including irreversible bladder or kidney damage, bladder stones and incontinence. Current BPH surgical treatments often force men to tradeoff between symptom relief and side effects, limiting patients to choose between either a high degree of symptom relief with high rates of irreversible complications such as incontinence, erectile dysfunction or ejaculatory dysfunction, or a low degree of symptom relief with low rates of irreversible complications.

For more information on Aquablation therapy or to schedule an appointment, visit marshallhealth.org/aquablation. For appointments and referrals, call Marshall Urology, a provider-based department of Cabell Huntington Hospital, at 304.691.1900.