When people mention about the disease which has been occurred only in men, most of them think of “Enlarged Prostate Gland”. This is commonly found and is likely to continue to occur more frequency, especially in men at the age of 40 – 45 years old. The major symptoms of enlarged prostate glands including the urine does not flow forcefully, take a long time to urinate, frequent urination at night, incomplete urination, or unable to hold urine. Patients have to go to urine as soon as they want to urinate. Those symptoms have a significance impact on daily life.
Causes of Enlarged Prostate Gland
Enlarged prostate gland is caused from the growth and abnormal divided of prostate gland cells until prostate gland become enlarge. The prostate gland will be gradually enlarged, it will take a long time. So, the patient gets familiar with urine does not flow, or urine slowly flow. By the time the examination was done, the patient was already quite old. Therefore, annual health check-up is important that men should not overlook. If the disease is detected early, the treatment will be easier.
Treatment of Enlarged Prostate Gland
There are several methods of treatment of enlarged prostate gland if the disease is at the early stage. When prostate gland does not quite enlarge, treatment can be started by giving medication to dilate the urinary tract to make urination easier. In some cases, doctor will give medicine together to reduce the size of prostate gland. In case where it becomes more severe or there are complications from an enlarged prostate gland such as being unable to urinate, blood in the urine, urinary tract infections, bladder stones and kidney failure due to an enlarged prostate. For those cases, doctor will consider and decide to treat with surgery, it is a laparoscopic surgery. The doctor will insert the surgical camera through the urethra to remove the part of the prostate that is blocking the urinary tract using an electric coil or laser.
What is Enlarged Prostate Gland Treatment with the Steam System?
Enlarged prostate gland treatment with the stream is one of the popular treatments. This is the technology treatment from the foreign country that Thai doctor brought it to treat the Thai patients since 2015. In the past 5 years, steam system treatment for enlarged prostate gland has yielded an effective rate of over 95%, which is similar to the standard treatment.
Steam Treatment Method
In the steam treatment method, the doctor will insert the surgical camera and instrument through the urethra to the prostate gland and inject steam with 103o Celsius into the prostate cells. When the prostate cells are exposed to the hot steam, they will die. Over the time, the body will gradually eliminate the dead prostate cells, then, those cells that block the urinary tract will shrink, including the size of the prostate gland will also become smaller. Then, it is easier for patient to urinate.
What types of patients is steam therapy suitable for?
- Steam treatment of enlarged prostate is suitable for patients with enlarged prostate whose gland size is not too much large, between 30-80 grams.
- Patients who do not want to take medication treatment for long time.
- Patients who take medication and experience side effects such as low blood pressure, dizziness, or sexual dysfunction.
- Patients who take medication but they cannot recover, they do not response to medication treatment.
- Patients who are weak physically or not healthy enough to undergo anesthesia or prolonged anesthesia for surgery.
The Advantages of Steam Therapy
- It is a endoscopic procedure that leaves no scars for the patients.
- It takes a short time for treatment, approximately 10-15 minutes.
- After the treatment, the patients can go back home for taking a rest. It is unnecessary to stay in the hospital.
- Less blood loss, rapid recovery.
- No anesthesia is required, only mild sedatives or local pain medication are used.
However, steam treatment of enlarged prostate still has limitations in patients with artificial urinary sphincter, artificial core of penis, or artificial penis, as well as patients with urinary tract infections. They must consult a doctor to find the most suitable method first.
Results of Treatment
During the first week, patients will have difficulty urinating due to prostate gland swelling. Therefore, doctor recommend leaving a urinary catheter in place so that patients can urinate for about 5-7 days, depending on the size of the prostate. During this time, patients can return home and live a normal life. When the next appointment comes, patients go to see the doctor to remove the urinary catheter and observe symptoms at the hospital.
After removing the catheter, the patient will gradually be able to urinate more easily, which will be clearly seen after 1-3 months of treatment. The successful rate is more than 95%, similar to the standard treatment method.
For the patients with enlarged prostate, it is recommended to see a doctor for physical examination and diagnosis. At Phyathai 2 Hospital, there are a variety of treatment methods, including, medication treatment, standard surgery, as well as treatment with new technology such as steam treatment of enlarged prostate.
Enlarged prostate is a disease that men should not overlook. Because if the symptoms become complications, it will make treatment more difficult. Therefore, you should observe yourself and when you have initial symptoms, you should consult doctor immediately.
Doctor Danai Kaewchongprasit
Urologist Specialist
Urology Center, Phyathai 2 Hospital
