Long-term outcomes of prostate artery embolization for acute urinary retention: An analysis of 88 patients.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to assess long-term outcome of prostate artery embolization (PAE) in patients presenting with acute urinary retention related to benign prostatic hyperplasia.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

All consecutive patients who underwent PAE for acute urinary retention due to benign prostatic hyperplasia from August 2011 to December 2021 in a single institution were retrospectively included. There were 88 men with a mean age of 72 ± 12 (standard deviation [SD]) years (range: 42-99 years). Patients underwent a first attempt of catheter removal two weeks after PAE. Clinical success was defined as the absence of acute urinary retention recurrence. Correlations between long-term clinical success and patient variables or bilateral PAE were searched for using Spearman correlation test. Catheter-free survival was assessed using Kaplan-Meier analysis.

RESULTS

Successful catheter removal in the month following PAE was performed in 72 (72/88; 82%) patients and 16 (16/88; 18%) patients had immediate recurrence. Clinical success persisted for 58 (58/88; 66%) patients at long-term follow-up (mean follow-up: 19.5 months ± 16.5 [SD]; range: 2-74 months). Recurrence occurred at a mean of 16.2 months ± 12.2 (SD) (range: 1.5-43 months) post-PAE. Overall, 21 (21/88; 24%) patients of the cohort underwent prostatic surgery, at a mean of 10.4 months ± 12.2 (SD) (range: 1.2-42.4 months) from initial PAE. No correlations between patients variables or bilateral PAE and long-term clinical success were identified. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a three-year catheter free probability of 60%.

CONCLUSION

PAE is a valuable technique for acute urinary retention related to benign prostatic hyperplasia, with a long-term success rate of 66%. However acute urinary retention relapse affects 15% of patients.