When you say "Prostate", don't forget to say "Bladder"!

Prostatic stents: a systematic review and analysis of functional outcomes and complication rate

BACKGROUND

This review aims to identify and summarize the current literature on the use of prostatic stents or nitinol devices as minimally invasive techniques for the management of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) resulting from benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

METHODS

A comprehensive search of the literature was conducted until October 2023. Only original articles written in English were considered for inclusion. This review has been registered in PROSPERO (registration number CRD42023474884).

RESULTS

Thirty-eight articles were included (2618 patients). Generally, the risk of bias was deemed as high or very high. The most frequently investigated stents were the UroLume, followed by the Memokath/Memotherm. The mean age was 72.01 ± 5.6 years, with a mean prostate volume of 48.27 ± 12.8 cc and a mean urethral length of 40.53 ± 9.16 mm. Surgeries were usually performed under local anesthesia. The rates of catheter-free status and complications were 85.2% and 30.83%, respectively. The primary complications included urinary tract infections (17.2%), followed by calcifications (12.6%), irritative symptoms (12.2%), and acute urinary retention (10.4%). During a follow-up period of 12 months, the failure rate intended as stent removal or repositioning was 14.8%. The International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) showed an overall improvement of 9.85 points. The mean improvement in maximum flow rate and post-void residual volume were 6.62 ml/sec and 147 ml, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Prostatic stents remain an efficient choice for addressing obstructive symptoms from BPH, offering the advantage of being performed under local anaesthesia, relieving symptoms with good functional outcomes and a low incidence of major complications. Prospective studies are needed to corroborate these results.

Impact of age and anterior fibromuscular stroma preservation on post-enucleation voided volume

PURPOSE

This study is centered on the critical role of anterior fibromuscular stroma (AFS) preservation in prostate enucleation, an emerging strategy aimed at minimizing postoperative urinary incontinence-a common concern in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) surgeries. By focusing on postoperative voiding volumes (VV), our research investigates the efficacy of AFS preservation. This approach, distinct in its methodology, is hypothesized to improve urinary function post-surgery, thereby offering a potentially significant advancement in BPH surgical treatments.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A retrospective analysis was conducted, comparing patients who underwent prostate enucleation in 2017 without intentional AFS preservation to those in 2019 with this technique. We examined variables including age, BMI, diabetes, hypertension, and preoperative VV to assess their effect on post-catheter removal VV. The study's methodology includes a thorough review of the primary statistical analysis methods employed.

RESULTS

Our analysis indicates that while the 2017 and 2019 cohorts were similar in most preoperative parameters, the 2019 group that underwent AFS-preserved surgery showed a significant improvement in postoperative VVs. This was less pronounced in the patient group aged over 70, underscoring the importance of this demographic in our study.

CONCLUSIONS

The study concludes that intentional preservation of AFS during prostate enucleation positively impacts early postoperative VVs, with limited improvement in older patients. These findings highlight the potential of AFS preservation not only in enhancing urinary outcomes post-surgery but also in shaping future BPH surgical procedures and research directions.