Spire Southampton Hospital has celebrated a decade of offering a pioneering non-surgical prostate treatment.

The hospital was the first independent provider to offer this treatment in partnership with UK Prostate artery embolisation (PAE) pioneer, Dr Nigel Hacking, in January 2013.

Since then, the hospital has treated 250 patients, making it the largest and longest series of treatments at any private hospital in the UK. PAE has several advantages over traditional invasive treatments.

Dr Nigel Hacking has been practicing at Spire Southampton Hospital for over 30 years and said: "Prostate symptoms can be a real nuisance for men as they get older.

"Slow urinary flows, urgency and often having to pee many times in the night affects their sleep patterns and those of their partners. 

"Traditional surgery, under general anaesthetic, whilst usually effective causes a suite of well-known complications.

"PAE offers an excellent, minimally effective alternative. PAE was fully approved by NICE in 2018, yet only a few NHS centres offer it and even fewer private hospitals.

"Men come from all over the UK and indeed from overseas to Spire Southampton Hospital for this treatment and I am incredibly pleased to be able to offer this service."

PAE is a non-surgical treatment for benign prostatic enlargement.

The treatment blocks the arteries feeding the gland, causing it to shrink and alleviating troublesome urinary symptoms. 

It does not require a general anaesthetic, and patients do not need to have a bladder catheter fitted for a few days afterwards.

The procedure is performed as a day case in a catheter lab, taking around two hours and causing no pain.

Dr Hacking said: "Spire Southampton Hospital is always my choice for this procedure as it has the advanced imaging technology, Dyna-CT®, which is not always available at other NHS or private hospitals.

"The Dyna-CT® (3D) imaging provides cross-sectional and three-dimensional imaging. Which when compared to standard imaging techniques used to perform PAE, may enable safer procedures, especially in more complex case."