A pioneering new treatment for enlarged prostates that could spare thousands of men from undergoing invasive surgery has been given the green light by the NHS.
An estimated 45,000 men in the UK have surgery to treat enlarged prostates every year. However, that figure could be drastically reduced thanks to the new technique, known as prostate artery embolisation (PAE).
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The treatment uses tiny synthetic beads to block some of the blood supply to the prostate, causing the troublesome tissue to shrink and die. Doctors pass a small tube into an artery in the groin that can be guided into the small blood vessels of the prostate.
The procedure can be done under local anaesthetic, which means that unlike with conventional prostate surgery, patients can go home shortly afterwards without having to be admitted to hospital, the BBC reports.
According to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), PAE may also have fewer side effects.
Dr Nigel Hacking, who led a study into the effectiveness of the treatment, told The Daily Telegraph that he hoped the new treatment would act as a “bridge” between drugs and surgery, bringing help to tens of thousands of men suffering distressing problems on a daily basis.
Around half of all prostate patients aged over 50 could benefit from the treatment, according to Hacking, a consultant interventional radiologist at University Hospital Southampton.
“By the time you get to the age of 80, around 80% of men will suffer from this, so we are talking about a lot of men,” he added.