Hello, I am in New Zealand and 65 years old. I had a HoLEP and bladder neck resection procedure for BPH in June 2019. Unfortunately I was one of the approximately 2% who suffered a 1 cm bulbar urethral stricture from undergoing this procedure. By Nov 2019 my peak flow was 5 ml/sec and average 2 ml/sec. Nocturia hourly. IPSS 32. Far worse than pre Holep. Had a Urethrotomy for a 1 cm Bulbar urethral stricture in Dec 2019. By early March 2020 ( 12 weeks post op) my peak flow was 3 ml /sec and average 1.5 ml /sec. IPSS 33. Total waste of time and money. I have never self catheterised. The thought of it terrifies me. Scheduled for end to end Urethroplasty in June 2020 but ascending and descending urethrogram showed my stricture to be hard against the external urinary sphincter and so end to end not possible. Would have to be a buccal graft. Lower success rate due to position and high chance of damage to the sphincter leading to incontinence. Researched on the internet and came across the Optilume Drug Coated Balloon Catheter which was registered and available in NZ. Never been used in NZ though. I begged my urologist to use it and finally he relented and I had the procedure on 6th June, 2020. One night in hospital, 10 days with urethral catheter. No pain, no discomfort ( apart from I don't like catheters) . Little bit of light bleeding for a few days. Nothing but good news since. So yesterday was 12 weeks post Optilume. Had follow up appointment. Max flow 21 ml/sec and average flow 12 ml/sec. Lovely bell shaped curve. Great taking into account my age. IPSS 1, as I do get up once at night to go to the toilet. Finally I feel wonderful, really thrilled. So for me Optilume DCB Catheter as changed my life. The unknown is how long it will last but I see the two year trial results are very positive. I wish I had never had the HoLEP and just pressed on with the tablets, but I can not turn back the clock. As an aside and unrelated to the Optilume my PSA did not drop post HoLEP and continues to increase. I will never let anyone near me with a scalpel again so I have refused biopsy and also MRI. I will take my chances and live well. Take care. Report / Delete
Hey Buddy
So happy this worked for you. I read about this months ago and it liked good. But never could find it again I will be have my stricture checked later on this year. I have one just before the prostate. For me I would not have any procedure where that got to cut away at the body.
As we get older we don’t heal as fast. At 65 this is the only thing I would have
Take care…Ken
NZ, thanks for sharing. It’s odd that your PSA didn’t drop after hoLep. Did you know the size of your prostate before and after ? How bad were your symptoms before ?
How does Optilume work ? Is it like a stent that keep section of the urethra open ? How often is it needed to be replaced ? I am currently self cathing because of retention. I suspect I might have bulbar stricture , though not completely closed because I can still pee somewhat. Hank