Tiny cage that cuts number of times men need the loo
ATINY wire cage may help men suffering symptoms of an enlarged prostate. The cage, implanted under mild sedation in five minutes, is designed to improve urine flow without any need for drugs or invasive surgery.
A recent study of 32 patients given the implant, which is removed after five days, showed they were able to stop taking medication immediately and most were free from symptoms three years later.
An enlarged prostate, or benign prostatic hyperplasia, is a common age-related condition that affects up to 40% of men over 50. The exact cause is not known, but one theory is that levels of a hormone called dihydrotestosterone increase with age, which may stimulate growth of the prostate.
The prostate sits around the urethra, the tube through which urine exits the body. If the gland becomes enlarged it can impede the flow, causing problems in starting urination, a frequent need to urinate and difficulty in emptying the bladder.
STANDARD treatment includes medicines such as alpha-blockers, which relax muscles in and around the prostate, making urination easier — but these can have side-effects including dizziness and headaches.
Patients may be offered surgical options such as transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP), which involves removing part of the prostate tissue using a tube passed through the urethra. Sideeffects include possible incontinence and sexual dysfunction.
The new treatment, called iTIND, is a cage-like device made from a metal called nitinol that can be moulded into different shapes but reverts to its original shape when heated.
The cage is normally around 50mm long and 33mm wide but surgeons squeeze it into a tight tube around 5mm wide to insert it through the narrow urethra.
In a five-minute procedure, the device is placed into the urethra to the point where it is being squeezed by the prostate. Once in place, it reacts with body heat and expands to its normal size.
As a result it expands the width of the urethra, bringing immediate relief. After five days the device is removed by surgeons pulling it out of the urethra.
Research at the University of Turin, in Italy, showed the device can be highly effective. The study, reported in the journal BJU International, of 32 men, all of whom had been on medication, revealed it took an average of 5.8 minutes to implant the device.
The men’s urine flow rate had increased by an average of 76% when measured six weeks after implantation, and all were able to stop taking medication three months after treatment.
None experienced any sexual dysfunction or incontinence as a result of the iTIND treatment in the three-year follow-up period.
Professor Raj Persad, a consultant urologist, says: ‘Many new treatments for an enlarged prostate are evolving, including iTIND.’
A BLAST of steam can shrink an enlarged prostate, say researchers at the University of Texas, in the US.
Results of a new study involving 129 men who received the treatment, which is applied through a hand-held device that looks like a gun, show a near60% drop in symptoms, a 17% reduction in the size of the prostate, and 90% of patients were able to come off their medication, according to a report in the journal Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases.
The steam is fired at the enlarged prostate tissue and is thought to kill off the cells.