title: Experience with the spanner prostatic stent in patients unfit for surgery: an observational study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Prostatic stents offer a third clinical option for patients with bladder-outlet obstruction who are unfit for surgical relief and wish to avoid long-term catheterization. We report our experience with the Abbey-Moor Spanner temporary prostatic stent in patients with acute and chronic symptoms of bladder-outlet obstruction secondary to benign or malignant disease who were unfit for surgery because of age or cardiorespiratory disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  A series of 43 consecutive patients stented March 2004 through November 2005 were reviewed retrospectively. Stents were removed and replaced every 3 months if tolerated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  More than half of the patients (63%) had an unsatisfactory outcome, namely, immediate or delayed retention or elective removal because of unbearable symptoms. The remaining 37% of patients had a satisfactory outcome and either continue to have the stent in situ after a mean of five changes or are stent free after a successful voiding trial.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Only 21% of the patients in whom stenting was indicated continued to have a stent in situ at the end of the study. We suggest that in such patients, a temporary stent such as the AbbeyMoor Spanner should be used for only 3 months as a trial of stenting followed by a trial of stent-free voiding, with the patient converted to permanent prostatic stenting if voiding is unsuccessful.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Glasgow, Scotland. sam_grimsley@yahoo.co.uk
authors.forename: Samuel J S
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Grimsley
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Elspeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lennox
authors.forename: Peter H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Paterson
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004867:Equipment Design; D004868:Equipment Failure; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011467:Prostate / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011470:Prostatic Hyperplasia / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015607:Stents; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D001748:Urinary Bladder Neck Obstruction / Q000628:therapy*