Having a prostate embolisation
Prostate embolisation for an enlarged prostate
Prostate embolisation is a procedure to block the arteries that supply blood to an enlarged prostate and reduce its size.
Preparing for the procedure
Before your procedure, we need to take pictures of the prostate gland to check its size and blood supply. Your urologist usually arranges for you to have an ultrasound and CT or MRI scan. We also organise a blood test before the procedure.
There are some things that can help you to prepare for the procedure.
Tips to prepare for your procedure
Do
- Contact the interventional radiology (IR) department in advance if you need a hoist (piece of medical equipment to help lift or move you safely), transport or a translator.
- Tell us if you take any antiplatelet medicines (like aspirin or clopidogrel) or anticoagulant medicines (like warfarin or rivaroxaban). These are medicines that help to prevent blood clots. You may need to stop them temporarily before the procedure. When you get your appointment letter, you can call the interventional radiology (IR) department for advice.
- Call the interventional radiology (IR) department for advice when you get your appointment letter if you take medicines for diabetes (like metformin) or use insulin. You may need to make some changes to your diabetes treatment near the time of the procedure.
Don't
- Do not eat anything for 6 hours before your procedure. You can drink clear, non-milky fluids, such as black tea, coffee or water, until 4 hours before the procedure.
Giving your permission (consent)
We want to involve you in decisions about your care and treatment. If you decide to have a prostate embolisation, we will ask you to sign a consent form. This says that you understand what is involved and agree to have the treatment.
You can read more about our consent process.
On the day of the procedure
On the day of your prostate embolisation procedure, please arrive 15 minutes before your appointment time. This allows time to prepare.
We put a small plastic tube called a cannula into a vein in your hand or bottom half of your arm (forearm). An hour before the procedure, we give you an injection through the cannula to control your pain.
We give you a hospital gown to wear and then take you to the interventional radiology (IR) department.
You can ask the IR doctor any questions that you have. We ask you to sign the consent form confirming that you agree to have the procedure.
During the procedure
You do not need to have a general anaesthetic, where you go to sleep during the procedure.
We may give you a sedative, which is a medicine to make you feel relaxed and sleepy. Most cases, however, are done under just a local anaesthetic. This medicine makes the part of the body to be treated numb and free from pain.
A prostate embolisation procedure can take up to 2 hours.
What happens during the procedure
- We position you on an X-ray table.
- Usually, we do the procedure through your groin or sometimes the left arm. We may shave your groin area. Then, we clean the area to make it free from germs (sterile) and cover it with a surgical drape (sterile sheet).
- The IR doctor makes your right groin or left arm numb by injecting a local anaesthetic medicine. Then then put a catheter into an artery in your groin or left arm.
- Using X-ray monitoring to check its position, the IR doctor guides the catheter into both your prostate arteries (right and left).
- When the catheter is in the correct position, the IR doctor injects fluid containing tiny particles through the catheter. This flows into the prostate arteries and blocks them.
- When the procedure is finished, the IR doctor removes the catheter. They press gently on the area where the catheter was in place for about 10 minutes to stop any bleeding. You do not need stitches or dressings.
The particles used in this procedure are made from a plastic-like material called polyvinyl alcohol. They are about the size of grains of sand and stay in your body permanently. In over 30 years of use, the particles have not shown any harmful effects. We also use beads, coils or glue.
How the procedure feels
The local anaesthetic medicine makes the area where we put in the catheter numb. This means that you do not feel any pain during the procedure.
You can expect some pain for several hours after the procedure, but we give you painkillers for this. Sometimes, you may also feel sick (nausea).
Resource number: 3641/VER4
Last reviewed: November 2023
Next review due: November 2026
A list of sources is available on request.
