This is a non-cancerous enlargement of prostate gland.

Frequent urination, sense of urgency, slow flow & sense of incomplete bladder emptying are its common symptoms. Some patients can have repeated urine infections and some patients can develop sudden stoppage of urine (acute retention of urine), which needs emergency treatment.

You will be interviewed and examined by your urologist and will have an internal examination of the prostate from the back passage (rectum). Thereafter, you will be asked to pass urine on a special toilet to check its speed (flowmetry), followed by an ultrasound check to assess how much urine, if any, remains in the bladder (residual urine).

Normally a simple urine & some blood tests are carried out, in all the patients, in addition to the above 2 tests. These may have to be repeated in some patients. In some patients, a special blood test called PSA is carried out.

Based on the clinical examination and the result of all the tests, further treatment is decided. In some patients, only watchful waiting is recommended. This means regular check ups by the doctor without any active medical or surgical treatment. In some patients only oral medication (tablets) is prescribed to decrease the tension in the muscle around the prostate (alpha blockers such as Alfuzosin, Tamsulosin, Terazosin) and to shrink the gland size (Finasteride, Dutasteride). In others, operation may be required, either with or without a preliminary course of tablets. However, surgery for BPH is usually not required as an emergency. In patients who develop acute urinary retention, insertion of a catheter from the urinary passage is done to drain the urine out. The decision regarding further active treatment is taken thereafter.