Careful clinical assessment and pertinent urological testing including urodynamic investigation are necessary for appropriate counselling and treatment of new SCI patients.
Introduction
We investigated the prostatic urethral lift, a novel, minimally invasive treatment for symptomatic lower urinary tract complaints presumed to be from benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), which aims to mechanically open the prostatic urethra without ablation or resection. We hypothesized that this novel approach would not degrade erectile or ejaculatory function.
Aims
We sought to determine the effect of the prostatic urethral lift procedure on erectile and ejaculatory function.
Methods
The procedure was performed on 64 men in Australia with an average age of 66.9 years and an average duration of lower urinary tract symptom (LUTS) of 4.7 years. Primary inclusion criteria included International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) > 13, Qmax of 5–12 mL/second, and prostate specific antigen (PSA) < 10 ng/mL. Baseline IPSS was 22.9 ± 5.4 (N = 64). There were no inclusion criteria for sexual function. Baseline Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM) was 11.7 ± 8.6 (N = 58); baseline Male Sexual Health Questionnaire for Ejaculatory Dysfunction (MSHQ-EjD) function score was 9.0 ± 3.7 (N = 46); and lack of sexual activity or unwillingness to answer sexual function questionnaires accounted for the reduced sample size in the sexual function instruments. Implants were placed to separate encroaching lateral prostatic lobes.
Main Outcome Measures
Patients were evaluated at 6 weeks and 3, 6, and 12 months postprocedure via the SHIM and MSHQ-EjD instruments.
Results
There was no evidence of degradation in sexual function after treatment for LUTS with the prostatic urethral lift procedure. Erectile function, as measured by SHIM, was slightly increased at all time points as compared with baseline. No patient reported retrograde ejaculation at any follow-up visit.
Conclusions
We demonstrated significant improvement in LUTS with no evidence of degradation in erectile or ejaculatory function after treatment with the prostatic urethral lift procedure. This procedure warrants further study as a new option for patients underserved by current treatments for LUTS/BPH.
Due to the myriad of treatment options available and the potential increase in the number of patients afflicted with overactive bladder (OAB) who will require treatment, the Female Urology Special Advisory Group (FUSAG) of the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand (USANZ), in conjunction with the Urogynaecological Society of Australasia (UGSA), see the need to move forward and set up management guidelines for physicians who may encounter or have a special interest in the treatment of this condition. These guidelines, by utilising and recommending evidence‐based data, will hopefully assist in the diagnosis, clinical assessment, and optimisation of treatment efficacy. They are divided into three sections: Diagnosis and Clinical Assessment, Conservative Management, and Surgical Management. These guidelines will also bring Australia and New Zealand in line with other regions of the world where guidelines have been established, such as the American Urological Association, European Association of Urology, International Consultation on Incontinence, and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines of the UK.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.