During a laser prostatectomy, the surgeon passes a thin telescope down the urethra and then slides a very fine end-firing laser fibre, down the telescope. This fibre delivers the laser energy which is used to carefully remove the excess prostate tissue that is causing obstruction of the urethra. This tissue is carefully dissected from within the prostate capsule by a process called enucleation and provides the most complete removal of prostate tissue possible. The residual fragments or lobes of the prostate are passed in to the bladder. They are then extracted by being cut into smaller fragments created by an instrument called a morcellator. This tissue can then be analysed to identify whether there was any evidence for cancerous change within the prostate.