Optilume - Day case treatment to improve urinary flow for men

Optilume - Day case treatment to improve urinary flow for men

Optilume is a relatively new procedure designed to improve urinary flow for men with recurrent urethral stricture by using a balloon dilation device coated with the drug paclitaxel. Originally proposed because paclitaxel coated balloons are often used in vascular surgery and in particular vascular disease with long term success in comparison to other treatments, the treatment is now available for recurrent urethral stricture disease.

Optilume is a minimally invasive day case surgical therapy which has a very low complication risk alongside good success rates as evidenced by published real life data. Note: Reference Urology Times - https://www.urologytimes.com/view/dr-chee-summarizes-latest-optilume-data-in-patients-with-urethral-strictures where Optimule success data was compared directly to the standard of care endoscopic treatment most commonly previously used.

The routine standard endoscopic treatment of urethral structures has at least a 50% failure rate with patients requiring repeat intervention and an ever-increasing risk of treatment failure. Before Optilume, the only other surgical option was urethroplasty which involves open surgery to cut out or graft the scar (stricture). This type of surgery takes between 2 and 4 hours with the patient requiring one night in the hospital whilst also requiring urethral catheter for approximately 2 weeks afterwards. With this type of surgery there is always a risk of complications.

Recently Consultant Urological Surgeon Mr Andrew Baird treated a 63-year-old patient who had had failed routine dilation procedures of his known urethral stricture in the past with no long term success. His symptoms were still on going and after Mr Baird had seen his urethrogram x-rays it was clear that the Optilume procedure was an excellent choice. Given that the procedure was very recent the full success of the treatment won’t become clear for a period but Mr Baird is very confident that in the patient’s 6 month check-up the patient will report an excellent outcome with very good relief from his symptoms.

Pictured below are the team from the Sefton Suite who treated and cared for Patient A including Mr Andrew Baird, Consultant Urologist.