Purpose: To evaluate the actual impact of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) on patients with lower urinary tract symptom (LUTS), without benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) medication.
Materials and methods: Two hundreds forty-six patients underwent TRT using intramuscular injection of 3 months bases injection of testosterone 100 mg undecanoate over a year. Among them, 17 patients had moderate LUTS with a maximal flow rate of at least 10 ml/s but did not take any BPH-specific medication during TRT. The changes in prostate specific antigen (PSA), International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), and uroflowmetery were measured before and after TRT.
Results: After TRT, PSA remained unchanged after a year of treatment (p=0.078). Compared with their counterparts (n=229), the patients without BPH medication had similar baseline prostate characteristics in all variables, including prostate volume, IPSS, maximal flow rate, voiding volume, and PSA, except the median amount of residual urine, which was higher in the patients without BPH medication (21 ml vs. 10 ml). In the no-BPH medication group, the total IPSS score was decreased significantly (p=0.028), both in storage symptoms (questionnaire 2, 4, 7) and voiding symptoms (questionnaire 1, 3, 5, 6), while the maximal flow rate and residual urine amount remained unchanged after a year of TRT. During the median follow up of 15.1 months, no patients experienced urinary retention, BPH-related surgery, or admission for urinary tract infection.
Conclusions: Over a year of TRT for the no-BPH medication patients with moderate LUTS and maintained a relatively high maximal flow rate and improved both storage and voiding symptoms, without the clinical progression of BPH or rising PSA.
Keywords: Androgen analogues; Lower urinary tract symptoms; Prostatic hyperplasia.