Your nights keep getting interrupted
Waking repeatedly to urinate can leave you tired before the day even starts.
Prostate Artery Embolization
Reduce urinary symptoms from BPH.
Weak stream, urgency, and repeated nighttime bathroom trips can wear you down. PAE reduces blood flow to an enlarged prostate through a tiny wrist or groin puncture—without cutting prostate tissue through the urinary channel.
Before treatment, EVSLA reviews whether BPH—not another bladder, urethral, infection, or prostate condition—is driving your symptoms.
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Tiny wrist or groin puncture
A catheter reaches the prostate arteries without an open incision.
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No prostate tissue is cut
PAE treats the blood supply rather than removing tissue through the urethra.
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Often home the same day
Discharge and recovery depend on your health and ability to urinate.
When BPH Starts Planning Your Day
PAE becomes worth discussing when urinary symptoms are controlling your sleep, travel, work, or confidence—and evaluation confirms an enlarged prostate is the cause.
Your stream feels weak or stop-and-start
Hesitation, straining, dribbling, or a slow stream can make every bathroom visit take longer.
Urgency makes every errand a calculation
Frequent, sudden urges can keep you scanning for a restroom or avoiding plans altogether.
You finish—but do not feel empty
Incomplete emptying can send you back to the bathroom quickly and may contribute to retention.
Already taking medication for BPH?
Discuss My BPH OptionsBring your medication list, urology records, PSA history, and prostate imaging. EVSLA can review what has—and has not—helped.
How PAE Relieves Pressure Without Cutting Prostate Tissue
An interventional radiologist reaches the small arteries feeding the prostate and reduces their blood flow with tiny medical particles.
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Begin through a tiny artery puncture
After numbing the wrist or groin, a thin catheter enters the artery. Sedation and monitoring are tailored to you.
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Map the prostate arteries precisely
Live X-ray imaging and contrast show the small pelvic branches feeding the right and left sides of the prostate.
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Reduce the targeted blood supply
A microcatheter delivers tiny medical particles into selected prostate branches while the specialist protects nearby vessels.
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Let pressure ease gradually
With less arterial flow, the prostate softens and shrinks over time, creating more room around the urinary channel.
Symptom relief is gradual—not immediate. PAE treats obstruction from benign prostate enlargement. It will not correct every cause of urgency, weak stream, or incomplete emptying.
Could PAE Fit Your BPH Symptoms?
A good decision connects your symptom score, prostate size, bladder function, testing, prior medication, and personal priorities—not just one scan.
PAE may be worth discussing if you...
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Have bothersome symptoms linked to BPHWeak stream, urgency, frequent urination, nocturia, or retention is affecting your quality of life.
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Did not get enough relief from medicationSymptoms persist, side effects are difficult, or you want to compare a procedural option.
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Want a catheter-based treatmentYou prefer to explore treatment without cutting or removing prostate tissue through the urethra.
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Have a larger prostate or added surgical concernsCurrent guidance particularly supports PAE for appropriately selected patients with a prostate volume of at least 50 cc.
Let’s evaluate other causes or paths first if...
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The cause of your symptoms is unclearOveractive bladder, infection, prostate cancer, urethral narrowing, stones, or a weakened bladder can resemble BPH.
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There is active infection or an unaddressed cancer concernUrine testing, PSA history, examination, imaging, or urologic evaluation may be needed before PAE.
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You want the strongest immediate flow improvementTURP, HoLEP, or another urologic procedure may provide a faster or larger improvement for some anatomy and goals.
PAE works best as part of coordinated prostate care. EVSLA reviews symptoms, prostate imaging, kidney function, medications, and vascular anatomy, and may coordinate with your urologist before recommending treatment.
Compare the Paths Before You Choose
Medication, PAE, and procedures such as TURP or HoLEP solve the problem differently. The right fit depends on symptom severity, prostate anatomy, sexual priorities, health, and how much retreatment risk you accept.
BPH medications
Daily medicine can relax the prostate and bladder neck, shrink the prostate, or calm storage symptoms.
AccessNo procedure
TimingSome work quickly; prostate-shrinking medicines take longer
Sexual effectsErection or ejaculation changes can occur depending on the drug
TradeoffBenefits usually depend on continuing medication
PAE
Reduces the prostate’s arterial supply so the gland softens and shrinks while remaining in place.
AccessSmall wrist or groin puncture
TimingImprovement builds over weeks and may continue for months
Sexual effectsGenerally lower risk than tissue-removing surgery—but not zero
TradeoffRetreatment may be needed if symptoms persist or return
TURP or HoLEP
Removes obstructing prostate tissue through the urethra to open the urine channel more directly.
AccessInstrument passes through the urethra
TimingOften faster and stronger flow improvement
Sexual effectsRisk varies; dry or retrograde ejaculation is an important discussion
TradeoffRecovery, anesthesia, bleeding, and urinary risks differ by procedure
PAE is not automatically better than surgery. Tissue-removing procedures may improve urine flow more strongly and can be more durable, while PAE may offer a shorter recovery and lower risk of some sexual or urinary side effects. Your goals decide which tradeoff matters most.
Plan for the First Days. Let Relief Build.
PAE avoids prostate surgery, but temporary urinary and pelvic symptoms can flare before the prostate begins to shrink.
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Recover under observation
Your team watches the puncture site, manages discomfort, and confirms the discharge plan. Some patients need a temporary urinary catheter.
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Expect temporary irritation
Burning, frequency, pelvic aching, fatigue, nausea, or a low fever can occur as part of post-embolization symptoms.
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Ease back toward your routine
Many patients resume light activities within several days. Follow your own instructions for driving, lifting, bathing, work, and exercise.
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Track the change in symptoms
Urinary improvement often becomes clearer over 4–6 weeks and may continue as the prostate shrinks over the following months.
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Your discharge instructions explain exactly when to call.
Inability to urinate, high or persistent fever, severe or worsening pain, heavy bleeding, uncontrolled vomiting, puncture-site bleeding, or a cold or discolored leg needs prompt medical guidance.
Check Your Coverage Before Treatment
PAE coverage varies by insurer and may depend on documented BPH symptoms, prostate testing, prior treatment, medical necessity, network status, and authorization rules. EVSLA can help review known requirements before treatment.
Benefit verification is not a guarantee of coverage or payment. Your insurer makes the final determination.
Three board-certified specialists
From prostate-artery mapping through follow-up, your EVSLA specialist keeps the plan clear and coordinates the next step around your urinary symptoms and goals.
Harout Dermendjian, MD
Endovascular SpecialistMeet Dr. Dermendjian
Clear evaluation, image-guided treatment planning, and follow-up in one connected care path.
Kartik Kansagra, MD
Endovascular SpecialistMeet Dr. Kansagra
A collaborative approach that connects imaging findings with what matters most to the patient.
Sipan Mathevosian, MD
Endovascular SpecialistMeet Dr. Mathevosian
Vascular and interventional radiology experience across embolization and complex image-guided care.
PAE consultations across three Los Angeles-area locations
PAE Questions
Direct answers about the treatment, symptom relief, sexual function, catheters, recovery, and coverage.
Yes. Prostate artery embolization and prostatic artery embolization refer to the same catheter-based treatment, commonly shortened to PAE.
No. PAE treats urinary symptoms caused by benign prostatic hyperplasia, not prostate cancer. The evaluation should address prostate cancer risk and other possible causes of urinary symptoms before PAE is recommended.
Improvement is gradual. Some patients notice change within the first weeks, while prostate shrinkage and symptom relief can continue over several months. Individual results vary.
PAE generally has a lower risk of erectile and ejaculatory side effects than many procedures that remove prostate tissue, but the risk is not zero and individual sexual function can change for many reasons.
Not every patient needs one. A temporary urinary catheter may be used before, during, or after the procedure depending on urinary retention, anatomy, and the care plan.
Temporary pelvic discomfort, burning or frequent urination, fatigue, nausea, low fever, or difficulty urinating can occur. Less common risks include infection, puncture-site bleeding, contrast reaction or kidney injury, non-target embolization, persistent symptoms, and the need for another treatment.
Many patients go home the day of treatment and return toward routine activities within several days, but pelvic discomfort, burning, frequency, fatigue, or a low fever can occur early. Follow the restrictions provided by your care team.
Coverage depends on medical necessity, symptoms, prior treatment, plan rules, network status, and authorization requirements. EVSLA can help check known benefits, but verification does not guarantee payment.
Find Out If PAE Fits Your BPH Symptoms
EVSLA can review your urinary symptoms, prior medication, prostate testing, imaging, and goals—then explain whether prostate artery embolization or another path makes more sense.