Embolization is a procedure in which the supply arteries to the prostate tissue are blocked through a blood vessel in order to cause a reduction in the size of the organ in symptomatic benign hyperplasia.
Who needs prostate embolization?
Benign prostatic hyperplasia is a common condition in older men in which the prostate becomes enlarged, which over time causes symptoms related to the lower urinary system such as difficulty, frequent and slow urination, incomplete emptying, pain when urinating, blood in the urine and incontinence. If the drugs did not solve the mentioned symptoms, some patients need surgical treatment, resection of the prostate, most often with a transureteral approach.
In patients who have an extremely enlarged prostate, who are not good candidates for surgery or do not want it or have a contraindication due to the risk of anesthesia, and in patients with an indwelling catheter, a new minimally invasive procedure of embolization through a blood vessel, most often in the groin, was introduced.
How is prostate embolization performed?
The patient is lying on his back. The operation is performed only by applying a local anesthetic under the skin at the site of the puncture of the groin blood vessel. After entering the blood vessel, the patient does not feel pain during the procedure. A thin catheter is guided to the desired artery that supplies the prostate with the embolization material, the flow of the artery is blocked on both sides with small particles. The procedure is performed through a single approach, and both shown arteries to the prostate are embolized.
As a rule, the intervention lasts about 90 minutes. The intervention ends by pressing the injection site with the hands.
Are patient complaints expected during and after the intervention?
As a rule, the only serious complaint that occurs in patients is pain, which occurs as a result of blockage of blood flow through the prostate due to a temporary lack of oxygen-rich blood flow. The pain starts to appear only after the small particles block the flow in the small arteries, and it lasts for 24 hours.
Due to the expected pain, in cooperation with the anesthesiologist, all necessary therapeutic measures are implemented to suppress or significantly reduce the pain. The return to regular life activities is about 3-5 days after the procedure.
What is expected as a result of the intervention?
After the embolization procedure, in 70-80% of cases, significant improvement can be expected in the form of a reduction in the symptoms of an enlarged prostate, and in patients with an indwelling catheter, an attempt can be made to remove the urinary catheter after 4-6 weeks.
How to prepare?
It is mandatory to come to the interventional procedure on an empty stomach and it is necessary to have a shaved groin.
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Before the procedure, a CT angiography of the pelvis is performed to assess the blood vessels and decide on the possibility of performing the procedure. An examination and findings of a urologist are also required before the procedure.