A novel minimally-invasive treatment for men with enlarged prostate is now available in Shanghai.

The innovative technology is expected to change the traditional hospitalized surgery to a simple procedure that allows patients to return home immediately and enjoy a speedy recovery.

Over half of men in the 60s have enlarged prostate and 90 percent of male between 70 and 89 suffer symptoms. Those with serious condition can suffer from urinary infection, bladder stone and incontinence.

An enlarged prostate can narrow or even block the urethra, causing bothersome urinary symptoms.

There are various treatments like medication, surgery and ablation.

However, such treatment usually doesn't provide adequate relief and may cause complications like sexual dysfunction. Some people just ignore the problem, which can deteriorate and result in kidney and bladder damages, doctors pointed out.

"Different people can have different feelings and symptoms. But 2 percent of males have to undergo surgical intervention to address the problem," said Dr Qi Jun from Shanghai United Family Hospital, the first medical facility on the mainland to introduce UroLift, an advanced minimally invasive therapy on BPH, or benign prostatic hyperplasia.

"Different from traditional surgery which removes the enlarged part of the prostate, UroLift is a simple outpatient procedure that can be performed in a doctor's office, under local anesthesia," he revealed.

The UroLift system uses small implants to hold open the obstructed pathway that's blocking urine flow.

During the process, the UroLift delivery device is placed through the obstructed urethra to access the enlarged prostate. Then, small implants are permanently placed to lift and hold the enlarged prostate tissue out of the way and increase the opening of the urethra.

Compared with medication and traditional surgery, Urolift causes no new, sustained erectile or ejaculatory dysfunction. "It is an innovative treatment. Of course, it is not suitable for everyone. Our United States counterparts said about one third of patients with BPH received UroLift last year," Qi added.

He observed that UroLift is not suitable for people with serious BPH and those with tumors, infections and congenital urethral stricture. "Patients should visit a doctor for professional evaluation and choose the right solution," Qi suggested.