What is Prostate Artery Embolisation?
Embolisation of the prostate arteries is a minimally invasive operation where the arteries to the prostate are blocked off, causing the prostate to reduce in size, and relieve the lower urinary symptoms (LUTS).
Why perform Prostate Artery Embolisation?
An enlarged prostate gland can cause many troublesome symptoms such as frequent urination, urgency, hesitancy, incomplete emptying, dribbling, prolonged urinary or intermittent stream. Prostate artery embolisation can relieve these symptoms without the need for a more invasive operation.
You may also be referred because you have had an indwelling urinary catheter placed because of an episode of urinary retention and have failed a trial of void, and because of problematic bleeding from the prostate.
How does Prostate Artery Embolisation work?
Embolisation of the prostate arteries is usually done under sedation in an operating room with specialised medical imaging equipment. Your interventional radiologist will use an ultrasound to guide a tube into the artery at either the groin or wrist. They will then pass a catheter (thin plastic tube) into the pelvic arteries and inject x-ray dye to define the anatomy of the pelvic arteries. A very fine catheter (microcatheter) is then passed into the prostate artery. Microscopic plastic particles will then be slowed injected into the arteries supplying the prostate, blocking them up, similar to how silt blocks up a drain. By blocking off the blood supply, the prostate reduces in size, relieving the pressure around the urethra.
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Suite 20, 3 Doherty Street, Birtinya, QLD, 4575, Australia
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Our office is attended Monday - Friday from 9am - 5.30pm.