Prostatic stents

Abstract

Endoscopic or surgical ablation of the benign prostatic gland is today a therapeutic gold standard but not the ideal treatment for several patient categories, such as the elderly and/or high risk for surgical complications. Many therapeutic procedures Proposed in the last few years as mininvasive or eligible for outpatients give improvement in symptomatic scores but are less effective as disobstructive treatment. The high success rate with minimal morbidity observed in the Authors’ experience with prostatic stents, suggests that this device may become first-line therapy for the medically compromised man with bladder outlet obstruction. In the Authors’ opinion irritative voiding symptoms and lack of long follow-up studies do not justify the use of these devices in younger men without retention.