Urology of Virginia has added an Interventional Radiology (IR) Department to offer local men a minimally-invasive procedure for benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) that is rarely available outside a hospital setting.
The targeted outpatient treatment, Prostate Artery Embolization (PAE), requires no general anesthesia or catheterization and carries only a negligible risk of side effects, specifically minimizing any risk of urinary or sexual complications such as incontinence and erectile dysfunction that have led many patients to shy away from traditional surgery.
Early this year, the practice brought on a new physician – Yi Yang, MD, an Interventional Radiologist (IR) with specialty training in Urological procedures – and opened a state-of-the-art radiology suite in its Virginia Beach location.
“This is an exciting expansion of our mission to deliver comprehensive, patient-centered care to our community,” said Joshua Langston, MD, Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer at Urology of Virginia. “Men with this very common condition of aging now have easy access to a non-surgical procedure that can significantly improve their quality of life.”
During PAE, Dr. Yang uses advanced X-ray imaging to guide a thin tube through an artery in the groin into blood vessels that feed the prostate, which is larger than normal in patients with BPH. She then injects tiny round particles that reduce blood flow to prostate tissue, eventually causing it to shrink and relieving constriction or partial blockages of the urethra.
Patients remain awake during the approximately one-hour procedure and need only a local numbing medication for the needle’s entry site. Most recover rapidly and, within days, see a reduction in symptoms such as urinary frequency and urgency, pain during urination, incontinence and incomplete or slow emptying of the bladder.
Urology of Virginia opted to add IR to serve more patients amidst a local and national shortage of urologists. The practice partnered with IR Centers, a Falls Church, Va.-based company that oversees a network of similar specialty sites in the United States and provides standardized training, quality assurance and consultations from national experts as needed.
PAE is an alternative to medications that aim to reduce prostate size and improve urinary symptoms, allowing men to avoid more invasive surgeries such as transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). The new procedure is safe for men who have other medical conditions that may disqualify or discourage them from a surgical procedure under general anesthesia.
“You don’t have to undergo any major pre-operative screening tests or stop medications such as blood thinners,” Dr. Langston noted. “This has given us the ability to do something for men who maybe couldn’t have anything else done or who just didn’t want to risk surgery.”
In the future, Urology of Virginia may expand its IR program to help patients referred from other specialties, including gastroenterology, orthopedics and gynecology.
For example, the embolization technology has proven effective in hemorrhoid embolization, uterine fibroid embolization and genicular artery embolization; the latter is used to block blood flow to inflamed lining of the knee joint and relieve chronic pain from osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and traumatic injuries.
“Having a dedicated elective outpatient IR center is a win for our entire region,” Dr. Langston said. “We encourage any physician with questions to reach out.”
For more information, visit urologyofva.net or call (757) 785-0701.
