Imagine the need to use the bathroom every 30 minutes of your day, or feeling that the bladder is full, even right after urinating! These are symptoms of Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) or Prostatic Gland Enlargement, which occurs when the enlarged prostate squeezes down the urethra and can block the flow of urine out of the bladder. Studies show that 50% of the men between the ages of 51 and 60 and up to 90 percent of men older than age 80 suffer from symptoms of prostatic enlargement.(Reference)
While medications are sometimes used to help relieve the bothersome symptoms and frequent urination problems caused by BPH, they do not treat the cause. If you stop the medicines, the symptoms return. Therefore, traditionally surgery has been the mainstay of treatment for patients with BPH. Every year, 150,000 men undergo Transurethral Resection of the Prostate (TURP) in the United States alone, according to Urology Care Foundation. However, TURP is a procedure carried out under anesthesia, and may also lead to complications such as retrograde ejaculation and erectile dysfunction.
Finally, there’s some breakthrough in this field, and respite for those afraid of surgery! The UroLift System, patented by NeoTract, Inc., a medical device company, is being described as the revolutionary approach to treating patients with BPH. The UroLift system is approved not only by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but also by the regulatory agencies of the European Union, Australia, and Canada.
What is UroLift?
The UroLift procedure in a minimally invasive transurethral procedure, that can be conducted as an outpatient procedure. According to their website, the urologist places tiny permanent implants tiny implants to hold the prostate lobes apart, like open curtains on a window, to relieve compression on the urethra. The team has also conducted studies and clinical data from a pivotal 206-patient randomized controlled study has demonstrated that patients with enlarged prostate receiving UrLift implants reported rapid and durable symptomatic and urinary flow rate improvement without compromising sexual function.
Urosurgeons across the world are now debating if this new procedure is the new Gold Standard of treatment of BPH because it is minimally invasive and the only BPH procedure that does not require cutting, heating or removal of the prostate tissue. The procedure was recently featured in an American Urological Association (AUA) training event at the AUA headquarters in Linthicum, Md.
Do you suffer from BPH? Have you been advised surgery? Get an expert opinion from the renowned Urosurgeons at SURGERYXCHANGE