PAE in the UK

Forgot to mention, I am 51 year old.

I agree with oldbuzzard, I had PAE done in Australia, maybe i's different in the UK, but in Australia they use a Magellan Robotic System if I am not mistaken, the surgeon sits down right next to you. I actually asked him about that, he said he does PAE's all the time and if there were worries about radiation would he sit there for that long ?

I think this board is great for finding out about new procedures, costs etc. but you have to speak to professionals and ask them the relevant questions. Most Urologists are either ignorant or not interested in PAE for obvious reasons.

As far as strokes, I don't believe that for a moment, though I WAS told by my surgeon that if they were to insert catheters into your arm it potentially could cause a stroke. I doubt it's ever happened or we probably would have heard about it by now.

I had the PAE about 4 months ago, it helped but not as much as I'd hoped, could be my anatomy was more complicated they told me my procedure was longer than normal due to difficulties finding the exact place to insert the spheres. I'd still take that any day over any kind of invasive surgery especially since they are coming up with new stuff all the time.

Philip, Like you Iwas on medication to help me urinate but whilst taking Tamsulosin, It only marginally improved my flow. In Feb I took my urologists advice and had a turp. Flow immediately improved. Some bleeding on starting to pee for about 5 weeks but no more than expected. Yes I have re but to me a small price to pay for getting my life back. 4 months on I now go through the night most nights without getting up, visit the toilet less frequently and spend a lot less time in there taking around 30 seconds to empty. For me I wish I had not let these forums put me off, and had had the op sooner.

I’ve been following this blog for about 5 months and have heard a lot about cathing, drugs, and the various BPH procedures.  All useful info. Bottom line:  drugs may work for a while (for me it was about 2 years), but the answer imho is surgery, specifically HoLEP.  I did the research on all the procedures (except PAE….had not heard of it), and chose HoLEP.  It is the best surgical procedure because; 1) less time in the hospital and a on catheter (less than 24 hours), 2) less bleeding, 3) very small chance of needing a repeat procedure, and 4) they remove prostate tissue (instead of burning it), so they can biopsy it for cancer.  You do need to find an experienced doc to do this. I’ve heard too many horror stories on this blog about TURP & GL.

I was retaining close to 800ml, and my prostate was 85 grams, PSA 3.8.  After it was 46 grams, PSA 0.2.  I had my surgery in January, and now have no problems at all.  Best of luck!