How does The Spanner work? click to expand
As illustrated, a small tube or stent is placed inside your prostatic urethra. This stent holds your urethra open, allowing urine to flow easily from the bladder, through the prostatic urethra, and out through the bulbar urethra.
How does The Spanner help me urinate voluntarily?
The stent does not hold the external sphincter open the way a Foley catheter would. If it did, you would be incontinent, meaning you could not control urine drainage from your bladder. Instead, the external sphincter closes around a group of soft strings, giving you control of your ability to urinate. (1)
Can I engage in sexual activities with The Spanner in place?
In the same clinical trial, at 30 days with the stent in place, 59% of patients reported having erections, with 78% of these patients reporting “no pain or discomfort;” 26% of patients reported engaging in sexual activity, with 71% of these patients reporting “no pain or discomfort.” (1)
See how The Spanner is placed & removed |
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Information Resources
References:
(1) Shore ND, Dineen MK, Saslawsky MJ, Lumerman JH, Corica AP. “A temporary intraurethral prostatic stent relieves prostatic obstruction following transurethral microwave thermotherapy.” J Urol (2007): 1050-1046. (2) Corica, A. P., Larson, B. T., Sagaz, A., Corica, A. G., & Larson, T. R. (2004). A novel temporary prostatic stent for the relief of prostatic urethral obstruction. BJU international, 93(3), 346-348. (3) Abdul-Muhsin, H. M., Jakob, N. J., McLemore, R. M., McAdams, S. B., & Humphreys, M. R. (2016). Infectious complications associated with the use of temporary prostatic urethral stents in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. The Canadian Journal of Urology, 23(5), 8465-8470. (4) Roach, R. M. (2017). Treating male retention patients with temporary prostatic stent in a large urology group practice. The Canadian Journal of Urology, 24(2), 8776. (5) Kessaris, D., & Bellas, A. (2017). Temporary prostatic stents as a replacement for urinary catheters following transurethral microwave thermotherapy: A retrospective review. Cogent Medicine, 4(1), 1349355. | ||||||
