Now, non-surgical method to cure enlarged prostate

Patients with an enlarged prostate now have the option of a non-surgical procedure that apparently carries with it lesser risk than the surgical procedure with none of the side effects of the latter.

An enlarged prostate shrinks the urethra (tube connecting urinary bladder and the genital for removal of fluids) thereby making it difficult for the patient to pass urine.

The procedure – Prostatic Artery Embolisation (PAE) – involves using a tiny angiography catheter passed into the body through a small incision in the abdomen. The catheter is passed into the artery that brings blood to the prostate. Through the catheter, micron-sized polyvinyl alcohol particles are released into the prostate artery, which either reduces the blood supply to the organ or even completely cuts it. As the blood supply reduces, the prostate shrinks thus opening the urethra and allowing for normal flow of urine.

Dr Sandip Jhala, an interventional specialist with Apollo Hospital who carried out the procedure on a 63-year-old, said that enlarged prostate leads to increased urine frequency and urgency because the bladder is not completely emptied.

It should be noted that so far patients with enlarged prostate, for whom medicines were not working, had to undergo surgery. This involved removing part of the prostate, which could lead to urinary tract infection and sexual dysfunction among others.

Jhala said the procedure that costs Rs35,000 and upward doesn’t come with any of the risks associated with surgery. “It is a non-surgical procedure and the patients can be relieved of their symptoms within a week,” said Jhala. He said that the first scientific study report of the procedure was presented at the Radiology Society of North America in November 2011.

Another urologist, on condition of anonymity, said the procedure might not be recommended for treatment of enlarged prostate because of difficult catheterisation of prostatic artery and possibility of bladder necrosis. “It may however be required in presence of uncontrolled bleeding prostate,” said the doctor.