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PAE an FLA results

Posted , 13 users are following.

richard11472
richard11472

I am in the final stages of deciding on which procedure to go with. I have spoken with Drs. K and B and feel both procedures have their good and bad points. I meet with my Urologist to discuss Urolift next week and hopefully get him to agree to order a prostate MRI for me. I also spoke at length with our FLA pioneer, John, and was thankful for his explanation and understanding of my concerns. I will definitely speak with him again before my final decision.

I have read there are some PAE failures, or at least results that are less then were hoped for. Conversely, I have not heard os any failures or subpar results, given that it is much newer than PAE.

I request that is you have had eithet procedure that you name the procedure and the results, be it 100 percent successful down to totally unsuccessful. Also please indicate if you would do the same procedure again given what you know now.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Also please private message me if you desire.

0 likes, 34 replies

34 Replies

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  • cartoonman
    cartoonman richard11472

    Posted

    Urolift, Dec 2015  Initially 100% successful, but after a few months, back to square 1.
    • paul29249
      paul29249 cartoonman

      Posted

      Sorry, I am considering Urolift because insurance won't pay for HOLEP, I be 65 in 3 years and trying to decide to do Urolift or wait until Medicare kicks in .

      Why did they say it failed

    • richard11472
      richard11472 cartoonman

      Posted

      Thanks for your reply, sorry the procedure was not successful for you.

      Rick

    • cartoonman
      cartoonman paul29249

      Posted

      The doc, who did the FDA trials for the procedure, said it was iffy, but he didn't say why.  My prostate was small (38gm).  I stopped taking the meds after the procedure, and I suppose the little sucker (the prostate) just went back to growing.  I have been doing CIC for a year now, assessing and waiting for iTind to prove itself!

    • cartoonman
      cartoonman richard11472

      Posted

      Thanks!  And yes, disappointing.  But the doc had said it was a "maybe," though he had a "hunch" it would work.  Ah, well!  And... CIC isn't so bad, when you get used to it!  :-)

    • richard11472
      richard11472 cartoonman

      Posted

      I have been thinking of CIC myself since my main symptom is difficulity starting the stream when getting up usually twice per night.
    • cartoonman
      cartoonman richard11472

      Posted

      As I've mentioned in many threads, the upside of CIC is that you can reduce the number of nocturnal trips, sometimes eliminating them altogether!  I cath right before bedtime, and sleep through the night 2/3 of the time.  A real blessing.

  • ross73654
    ross73654 richard11472

    Posted

    Ok well I have also had both. I had the PAE done in 2013 by Dr B in VA. I was one of 36 men in a clinical trial awhich gave me some initial relief. This lasted around two years but things gradually went down hill culminating very recently in complete urinary retention In January and again in May, twice in a week. Out of desperation I called Dr K in Houston and booked my FLA. I was wearing a foley catheter for a full 11 days prior to my procedure and the obligatory week afterwards.

    I had the incredible Dr K do the MRI guided FLA on May 18th and 4 weeks later I am peeing better than I have done in years. I have a lot more healing to do so I have heard it only gets better. This is truly a miraculous procedure and Dr K is the most caring and talented Dr I have ever met.

    Dr K was able to show me exactly where on my pre-procedure MRI how the PAE had failed me. I have (had) a large median lobe protruding into my bladder neck and this has been the cause of the worst of my misery. The PAE had left the median lobe unscathed; the blood supply was clearly 100% in tact and as a result had continued to grow. This is the gamble one takes in my opinion in choosing an non-targeted procedure like PAE. If the offending tissue is successfully embolized then all is well, if not then the relief is either brief or non-existent. FLA is all about the targeting of the tissue causing the BPH by placing the laser exactly where it needs to be and using heat maps on the MRI so that just the Dr can provide  just enough power to th elaser be able to ablate the offending tissue to an accuracy of 1mm. To me this made and still makes perfect sense. Thus the DR is able to specifically avoid the ejaculatory ducts and nerve bundle that would otherwise result in sexual dysfunction.

    I can confirm that I have no sexual side-effects and as things stand and given how poorly I was immediately, prior, I couldn't be happier.

    It is also important to make sure that you have no bladder or kidney issues prior to any procedure to make sure you have a fighting chance for the procedure to succeed.

    I'll be glad to answer any questions you may have.

    Ross

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