SpaceOAR™ Hydrogel Prostate Cancer Treatment

SpaceOAR™ Hydrogel Prostate Cancer Treatment

Fight prostate cancer and protect your health with SpaceOAR™ from Florida Urology

Cancer is scary. Even when the odds of living a full, happy, and healthy life after beating cancer are high, as they are with prostate cancer, other concerns remain.

With radiation comes risks and worries. However, those risks and worries can be put to the side, allowing you to concentrate on your recovery, health, and happiness. Radiation treatment therapy is targeted directly at the location of your cancer, but nearby organs and tissues are often at-risk.

With the help of SpaceOAR™, administered by Florida Urology, you can protect your rectum from radiation damage. Without this protection, it’s possible that the rectum will be damaged, and you may lose bowel function or develop bowel-related issues.

Protect your health! Schedule your consultation or continue learning how SpaceOAR™ can work for you below.

What is SpaceOAR™ hydrogel?

SpaceOAR™ is a trusted procedure that uses a hydrogel injection to reduce the amount of radiation going to your rectum during each prostate radiation therapy session.

OAR in SpaceOAR™ stands for “organ at risk.” This procedure, used to protect the rectum, has been administered to over 50,000 patients with leading cancer centers trusting SpaceOAR™ to help prostate cancer patients retain bowel function and put space between radiation and healthy organs and tissues.

How does SpaceOAR™ hydrogel work?

During the SpaceOAR™ hydrogel procedure, which can be conducted in a doctor’s office under local anesthesia or in an operating room under general anesthesia, a doctor will clean the area and use an ultrasound to help guide the placement of the hydrogel. The hydrogel is injected between the rectum and prostate, expanding the space between the two by around half an inch.

The added space places the rectum further away from radiation that is targeting the cancer cells in your prostate, preventing damage to nearby tissues without impacting the treatment that is killing your cancer cells. In about six months, the hydrogel is safely absorbed by your body.

Is SpaceOAR™ hydrogel safe?

The hydrogel used in the SpaceOAR™ treatment is comprised of two liquids that combine to create a primarily water-based soft gel material. This biodegradable gel is widely trusted by physicians and has been utilized in surgical sealants in the spine, eye, brain, and elsewhere. No removal of the gel is required due to its ability to be absorbed by the body, meaning you won’t need to undergo a second procedure.

What you can expect with SpaceOAR™ hydrogel from Florida Urology

Traditional radiation therapy treatments may not protect your surrounding tissues from radiation exposure. SpaceOAR™ hydrogel offers the possibility of significant benefits as you undergo radiation therapy treatments. These benefits include:

• Improved bowel function
• Improved urinary function
• Increased likelihood to maintain sexual function

Pain or discomfort from the procedure is not uncommon. To know what you can expect during and after the SpaceOAR™ Hydrogel procedure, consult with your urologist at Florida Urology, and read more about the procedure at spaceoar.com.

Stop your worries and protect your rectum from unnecessary exposure to radiation. Florida Urology can guide you through this difficult process and explain further how SpaceOAR™ can protect your health.

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