Monotherapy versus combination therapy in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia: A single center study

Background and objectives: Most benign prostatic hyperplasia patients do not present obvious indicators for surgical intervention, so most of these patients are treated initially with medical therapy. This study aimed to compare the incidence of acute urinary retention after treatment with monotherapy with the incidence after combination therapy and determine the need for surgery in both methods. Methods: This is a retrospective study of the medical records of 248 benign prostatic hyperplasia patients who had attended Rizgary Teaching Hospital from May 2012 to June 2017. These patients were divided into two groups of 138 and 110 patients who have been treated by 0.4 mg tamsulosin capsule once daily and 0.4 mg tamsulosin capsule plus 5mg finasteride tablet once daily, respectively. Benign prostatic hyperplasia outcomes (acute urinary retention, benign prostatic hyperplasia related surgery) were compared between these two groups according to prostate volume and serum prostate specific antigen. Results: The combined treatment had significantly reduced the incidence of acute urinary retention and benign prostatic hyperplasia related surgery than monotherapy (P = 0.006 and 0.044, respectively). Similarly, when prostate volume and prostate specific antigen were above the cutoff value, both acute urinary retention and benign prostatic hyperplasia related surgery were lower in the combination therapy group than the monotherapy group. Conclusion: Combined therapy (0.4 mg tamsulosin plus 5mg finasteride) was significantly superior to 0.4 mg tamsulosin alone in the reduction of the incidence of acute urinary retention and benign prostatic hyperplasia related surgery among benign prostatic hyperplasia patients. Keywords: Benign prostatic hyperplasia; Acute urinary retention; Benign prostatic hyperplasia related surgery; Prostate volume; Prostate specific antigen.