Five-minute steam treatment that shrinks enlarged prostate offers hope for millions of men

A new five-minute steam treatment for an enlarged prostate has been hailed as a breakthrough by NHS surgeons following tests on British patients.

The simple procedure was found to shrink glands on average by 36 per cent - but while the result is similar to other treatments, it has far less side effects.

The process, conducted by surgeons at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in London and Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on 150 men, involves injecting an enlarged prostate with jets of steam without the need for surgery.

Current procedures, while effective, can lead to loss of sexual function, bleeding and incontinence with patients kept in hospitals for days at a time. 

It was reported that health watchdogs are ready to give it the green light for NHS use.

Two million men in Britain have been diagnosed with an enlarged prostate. However, half of all men over the age of 50, and 60 per cent of those over 60, are thought to have it, studies have suggested

The steam treatment, called Rezum, involves having steam is injected at 1cm intervals, killing enough prostate tissue to shrink the enlarged gland.

Professor Hashim Ahmed, a consultant urological surgeon at Imperial, said other hospitals are poised to roll out the treatment as soon as they get the okay from health watchdog NICE.

"It frees up huge NHS resources because you need much less theatre time," he told the Daily Mail. "You are also opening up tens of thousands of days of bed occupation around the country."