There is a strong association between benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)/lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and sexual dysfunction. While transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) is considered the standard BPH treatment, it is however associated with a high rate of erectile and ejaculatory dysfunctions. Over the past decade, new and novel minimally invasive BPH therapies have been shown to improve various parameters of voiding domains while minimizing adverse sexual effects. These minimally invasive BPH therapies can be largely be divided into those with cavitating technology (Rezum, Histotripsy, Aquablation), intra-prostatic injections (Botulinum neurotoxin Type A, Fexapotide Triflutate, prostate specific antigen-activated protoxin PRX-302), and mechanical devices which include intraprostatic stents (Urospinal 2™, Memotherm™, Memokath™, and Allium triangular prostatic stent™) and intraprostatic devices (iTIND™, Urolift™), as well as prostatic artery embolization. Published literature on these technologies showed reasonable preservation of erectile function with limited data reported on ejaculatory domain. Further validation of the performance of these novel minimally invasive treatment options for LUTS due to BPH in well-designed and multi-centre studies are desired, to evaluate their role (or lack of such a role) in clinical practice and whether these BPH therapies can provide equivalent standard or better than TURP.
Investigative and clinical urology. 2021 Mar [Epub]
Brian Hung Shin Ng, Eric Chung
Department of Urology, Princess Alexandra Hospital, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.