ABSTRACT

Benign prostatic hyperplasia is one of the common problems of the aging men and there are several medical or surgical treatment alternatives. The side effects and complications of the existing therapeutic modalities provoke search for new treatment methods with lower invasiveness. Botulinum toxin applied as injections into the prostate is one of the attractive methods. The toxin has several serological subtypes of which Botulinum toxin A (BoNT-A) appears as the most frequently used one for treatment. Experimental studies have demonstrated that BoNT-A reduced prostatic weight and caused atrophy and apoptosis. In the clinical setting, different injection doses have been used with relevance to prostatic volume. BoNT-A treatment has been reported to cause decreases in prostatic volume, prostate specific antigen level, symptom score and residual urine volume. BoNT-A appears as a valid treatment alternative for patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia with its easy application and minimal or acceptable side effects. However, the limited number of randomized controlled studies and the presence of trials with small study groups only are major drawbacks to the widespread use of BoNT-A.