While not dangerous, an enlarged prostate due to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) can cause trouble symptoms, particularly when it comes to urinary flow. Men with this condition often find it difficult to start or stop the flow or urine due to the enlarged gland obstructing the urethra. As such, when treating BPH, many men focus on options that relieve urinary symptoms. There are a range of available treatment options, from watchful waiting and lifestyle changes to medical procedures such as Prostatic Artery Embolization (PAE) or even surgery. And now, thanks to its recent FDA approval, there’s a new treatment option available—an implant designed to open up the urethra to relieve lower urinary tract symptoms.

Treating BPH with Implanted Devices

The newly approved device, crafted by Zenflow Inc., is crafted from an alloy of nickel and titanium. Designed to be implanted by a camera-guided, flexible tube in your doctor’s office, the small device props open the urethra to maintain urinary flow with minimal disruption to surrounding tissue. And that’s an important feature, since a previously-approved implantable device for treating BPH—the UroLift—was known to cause post-implant bleeding.  Now, while the Zenflow team hopes their design will cause fewer complications, they also note it can be removed quickly, and with a minimally-invasive procedure, if complications do arise.

A Different Approach to BPH Treatment

While implantable devices address the side-effects of prostate enlargement, they do nothing to shrink the gland itself. For that reason, they can only address BPH symptoms, without resolving the condition itself. In contrast, minimally-invasive procedures such as PAE work differently: they shrink your enlarged prostate by blocking blood flow to the gland. In the weeks that follow treatment, your prostate shrinks and your symptoms improve or resolve completely—all without the need for surgery, and without the risk for sexual side effects. And, while not everyone is a candidate, many men who wish to find BPH relief without surgery prefer this option to ones involving implantable devices. To learn more about treating BPH without surgery, and to explore your candidacy for PAE, we invite you to request a consultation at one of our seven convenient Texas Endovascular locations.