Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2011 | Page 117

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Island Life - February/March 2011

to increase in size, which can cause
obstruction to the drainage of the
bladder. This can result in troublesome
symptoms such as a reduced urinary
flow, difficulty getting started, dribbling
after emptying, having to visit the
toilet more frequently and with more
urgency, and having to get up at night.
These symptoms are much more likely
to be due to benign enlargement than
prostate cancer, although advanced
prostate cancer can cause similar
difficulties. Most men will have some
of these symptoms to a lesser or
greater degree, but the most severe
complication of prostatic enlargement
is acute urinary retention, which is
the painful inability to pass any urine
at all. This is a most unpleasant
experience, and usually results in a trip
to the nearest Accident and Emergency
department for a catheter to be fitted.
As urological surgeons, our aim is to
treat men with prostatic enlargement
before this happens.
For men with mild bladder outflow
obstruction, tablets can be used
to relax muscle within the prostate
and bladder neck, and can help to
control symptoms. There are also
tablets available which act on an
enzyme within the prostate to stop

it growing; these generally