Correlation of intravesical prostatic protrusion with severity of lower urinary symptoms among patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia

Abstract Background Benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) is characterized by an increase in the number of epithelial and stromal cells in the periurethral area of the prostate. Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) often develop as a manifestation of bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) due to benign prostate enlargement. When the prostate enlarges, protrusion into the bladder often occurs as a result of morphological changes of the gland. Prostatic protrusion into the bladder can be measured with ultrasound as intravesical prostatic protrusion (IPP). There are studies that have shown IPP as a reliable predictor of bladder obstruction index (BOOI) as measured by pressure flow studies. IPP is thereby reliable in assessing the severity of BOO in patients with BPH. The severity of symptoms in patients with BPH can be assessed through several scoring systems. The most widely used symptoms scoring system is the International Prostate Symptoms Score (IPSS). The aim of this study is to determine the correlation of IPP with IPSS in men with BPH at our facility. Methods The study was a cross-sectional observational study that was conducted at the Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, in our facility. The study was conducted on patients greater than 50 years LUTS and an enlarged prostate on digital rectal examination and/or ultrasound. All consenting patients were assessed with the International Prostate Symptoms Score (IPSS) questionnaire, following which an abdominal ultrasound was done to measure the intravesical prostatic protrusion (IPP), prostate volume (PV) and post-void residual (PVR) urine. All the patients had uroflowmetry, and the peak flow rate was determined. The data obtained were entered into a proforma. The results were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software package version 20. Results A total of 167 patients were seen during the study period. The mean age was 63.7 ± 8.9 years, with a range of 45–90 years. The mean IPSS was 18.24 ± 6.93, with a range of 5–35. There were severe symptoms in 49.1%, while 43.1% had moderate symptoms and 7.8% had mild symptoms. The overall mean IPP was 10.3 ± 8 mm. Sixty-two patients (37.1%) had grade I IPP, 21 patients (12.6%) had grade II IPP and 84 patients (50.3%) had grade III IPP. The mean prostate volume and peak flow rate were 64 g ± 34.7 and 11.6 ml/s ± 5.4, respectively. The median PVR was 45 ml with a range of 0–400 ml. There was a significant positive correlation between the IPP and IPSS ( P = 0.001). IPP also had a significant positive correlation with prostate volume and post-void residual and a significant negative correlation with the peak flow rate ( P < 0.01). Conclusion Intravesical prostatic protrusion is a reliable predictor of severity of LUTS as measured by IPSS, and it also shows good correlation with other surrogates of bladder outlet obstruction.