Chemo-ablation of the prostate with dehydrated alcohol for the treatment of prostatic obstruction.

PURPOSE: We confirmed clinically whether chemo-ablation of the prostate with absolute ethanol may be an innovative transurethral approach for the relief of obstructive benign prostatic hyperplasia.

METHODS

Using the InjecTx endoscopic device (Injectx Inc., San Jose, California) an initial cohort of 15 patients, including 13 who have now been followed more than 1 year, underwent elective transurethral chemo-ablation of the prostate.

RESULTS

Preoperative and postoperative comparisons of the American Urological Association symptom score, maximum urine flow rate and prostatic volume reveal significant improvement with minimal discomfort and no major complication.

CONCLUSIONS

The InjecTx technique proved encouragingly successful in this initial small-scale clinical trial.