Patient's question:
My husband has been experiencing frequent urination and urgency recently. He always gets up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, which has disrupted both of our deep sleep. This has been very frustrating for me. After a thorough check-up, it was found to be benign prostatic hyperplasia. What could be the reason for this?Doctor's answer:
Digital rectal examination (DRE), a simple yet important diagnostic method, is performed after bladder emptying. Attention should be paid to the boundaries, size, and consistency of the prostate. When the prostate is enlarged, the gland may decrease in length or width, or both may decrease. Clinically, different methods are used to describe the degree of prostate enlargement. However, digital rectal examination may have certain errors in assessing the size of the prostate. If the middle lobe protrudes into the bladder, the decrease in the prostate gland may not be apparent during digital rectal examination. Additionally, if a hidden mass is detected on the prostate during digital rectal examination, a needle biopsy should be performed to rule out the possibility of prostate cancer.