A Guide to UroLift Procedure for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

What is Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)

Benign prostatic hyperplasia is a medical term used for noncancerous prostate enlargement. This condition occurs when the cells of the prostate gland initiate to multiply its numbers. These extra cells are the primary cause of prostate gland swelling and shrinkage of the urethra. According to a survey, over 500 million men worldwide suffer BPH.

Symptoms OF BPH

Some common symptoms are listed below:

• frequent urination through the day, especially at night time
  
• sudden uncontrolled urination urgee
• trouble starting to urinate
• feeble urination stream or poor flow
• inability to urinate / retention or catheterised
• not emptying the bladder entirely and needing to “double void”

Sometimes symptoms of BPH are not visible or can be mild in some cases. If these mild conditions are left untreated, a proportion of patients may have complications such as loss of bladder control, urinary bleeding, bladder stones and rarely kidney failure.

Causes of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

BPH is an age-related phenomenon: the prostate enlarges as one grows older. The growth is dependent on the male sex hormone testosterone.

Treatments for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

There are numerous treatments and medications available for BPH. If the condition is mild, then medicines are used to treat a patient. Sometimes invasive, non-invasive, and minimally invasive procedures are adopted to treat this medical condition.

What is UroLift?

It is the unique mechanism of action to treat the BPH. The UroLift treatment not only helps the quality of life for patients but also improves patient satisfaction. The UroLift procedure is a minimally invasive treatment that provides instant and more visible results compared to any other procedure. It takes 15-20 minutes to perform the procedure and there is no use of heat, cold or laser energy.

The Urolift System and The Procedures

The UroLift system comprises of an UroLift Delivery Device and UroLift Implant. The UroLift Delivery Device is used to get access to the enlarged prostate by passing it through the urethra. The UroLift Device and a telescopic camera are used to carry the implants. The delivery device deploys permanent UroLift Implants to hold apart the prostatic lobes. With the help of implant, prostate tissue gets pushed aside and enlarges the opening of the urethra for effortless urination. The whole procedure is performed under a general/local anaesthesia or sedation. The final decision of anaesthesia is taken after the discussion among urologists, the patient, and anaesthetist.

Is the UroLift implantation safe?

Yes, it is safe with few or no side effects. It is getting popularity with every passing day. It is the exclusive transurethral treatment for BPH that does not necessitate heating, hurtful cutting, or exclusion of the prostate glands. Patients do not need to stay at the hospital; they can return home on the same day. They usually do not require a catheter or complex pain-relieving medications after the procedure

Benefits of UroLift

• Enhance the quality of life
• Preserve sexual drive
• Less risky and painful as compared to surgical procedures
• Rapid system of relief and better results as compared to the medications/surgeries
• No complicated ongoing medication for a long period
• Less than <1% chance of sexual side effects
• 80% of patients are happy at 5 years (no longer-term data as it is a novel procedure)

Who can Perform UroLift?

At AUA, all of our surgeons perform this procedure. Our team will assess each patient to decide if we think UroLift is the best option for them as there may be alternative procedures that are more suitable. Discussion with your urologist and investigations will help determine whether this procedure would be a good fit for you.

Our team works with patients across Essex and Suffolk, predominantly working in Colchester and Chelmsford. If you have received a diagnosis for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia then all you need to do is book an appointment and one of our urological consultants will sit down with you to go through the next steps. This may be to review your test results – we will always involve you in discussions regarding any recommended treatment.

Final verdict

UroLift is designed by keeping in mind the need of the day. The popularity of UroLift is due to speedy recovery, low complication rates and minimal sexual dysfunction. This procedure is for those patients who want minimally invasive surgery and do not want to take medications or have surgery which could have effects on their sexual function.

Patients should be aware that Urolift involves placing metal implants in the prostate that could make future interpretation of MRI imagining of the prostate a little more difficult.