Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy
What Is BPH?
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is an enlargement of the prostate gland affecting about 50% of men by age 60, and up to 90% of men by age 85. This enlargement can compress the urethra, reducing the flow of urine from the bladder, and sometimes blocking it entirely. The symptoms of BPH include:
Urinary frequency
Irregular flow
Urgency
Weak stream
Straining
Getting up at night to urinate
We carry out a non-invasive procedure to address the symptoms related to an enlarged prostate.
Treatments for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
Those with mild symptoms may only require occasional check-ins to ensure the condition doesn’t worsen. For those with severe symptoms, there are a variety of treatment options, including:
Medications to reduce enlargement and ease symptoms caused by BPH. Some medications can decrease the production of a hormone that impacts the prostate’s growth; others relax muscles in the prostate to reduce pressure on the surrounding tissues or help to improve the flow of urine.
Surgical treatments
A more aggressive form of treatment that involve surgery to remove tissue blocking the urethra or widen the urethra to make urination easier. Common procedures include transurethral incision of the prostate (TUIP), transurethral vaporation of the prostate (TUVP), and photoselective vaporization (PV). All these treatments involve entry through the penile urethra.
Minimally invasive prostate artery embolization (PAE)
A less invasive alternative to these treatments, instead of removing tissue, PAE reduces blood flow to the prostate, causing it to shrink and allowing the urethra to return to normal. This procedure is done through an IV in the wrist (or in the groin, if the patient is too tall).
How Does Prostate Artery Embolization (PAE) Work?
PAE is a minimally-invasive image-guided (ultrasound and x-ray fluoroscopy) procedure provided on an outpatient basis. The procedure is performed through the radial artery (wrist) or the femoral artery (tiny incision in the groin) under sedation. The procedure lasts around 1 hour. Because this procedure doesn’t involve major surgery, patients rarely require general anesthesia and are discharged from the office within 1 hour the same day to recover at home.
PAE takes advantage of the fact that the prostate gland has a rich blood supply. By advancing a tiny (1 mm or less) catheter through the arteries into the prostatic arteries, the blood flow to the prostate can be reduced by injecting small particles that reduce blood flow to the prostate. By reducing the blood flow to the prostate (embolization), the prostate responds by shrinking. This allows the urethra to return to a normal diameter, thereby increasing the urine flow rate, the force of the stream, and more complete bladder emptying.
After the Procedure
Following this procedure, the prostate will begin to shrink, relieving and improving symptoms usually within days of the procedure. Overall, up to 90% of patients experience symptom relief.
Dr Rao has the longest experience with PAE in Texas, having performed it for over 10 years. In 2012, he performed the first PAE for BPH in the Texas/New Mexico region at Sierra Hospital in El Paso.
Our Simple Process
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