What is my International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS)?
The IPSS is a questionnaire you can use to help you understand the severity of your BPH symptoms.
As men age, they often begin to experience urinary issues that can cause embarrassment, loss of sleep, and more. Prostate artery embolization (PAE) is a new treatment option for men with benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) – also known as an enlarged prostate gland – that often causes the urinary issues. More than 50% of men in their 60’s, and 90% of men age 70-89 have BPH symptoms.
As you can see from this illustration, the prostate gland surrounds the urethra, the tube that carries urine from the bladder out of the body. A normal prostate is about the size of walnut, but as men age nearly all experience enlargement of the gland. As the prostate gets bigger, it may squeeze or partly block the urethra. This often causes problems associated with urinating.
All of these procedures are substantially more invasive than PAE (which is done through a tiny puncture at the top of the leg) and most of these procedures also can have sexual side effects. In larger prostates only Prostatectomy is an option, which has a much higher rate of sexual side effects than PAE.
An enlarged prostate often constricts the flow of urine. Nerves within the prostate and bladder may also play a role in causing the following common symptoms:
During the PAE procedure, Dr. Gropper inserts a tiny catheter into either the radial artery at the wrist, or the femoral artery at the top of the leg and guides it to the prostate artery on both sides of the enlarged prostate gland. Once positioned next to the prostate, the catheter is used to deliver microscopic spheres to block blood flow, causing the prostate to shrink, and dramatically reducing symptoms.
The procedure is performed in-office under mild sedation, and the patient goes home a few hours later. Recovery is easy with symptoms improvement often noted within 2 weeks.
The IPSS is a questionnaire you can use to help you understand the severity of your BPH symptoms.
For your convenience, we now make it even easier for you to schedule your visit to Vivid Vascular by booking your appointment online. Simply select a date and time that is convenient for you and provide us with the requested information. One of our friendly patient care coordinators will reach out to you via your preferred contact method to confirm your appointment.