Efficacy of alpha-Adrenergic Receptor Blockers in the Treatment of Male Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms

Abstract

Male lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are one of the most common causes for a consultation with a health care provider, and one of the most common causes of male LUTS is benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). In recent decades, medical therapy has established itself as viable and cost effective for the majority of men. For the treatment of male LUTS in the United States, the 5 currently available alpha-adrenergic receptor blockers are alfuzosin, doxazosin, silodosin, terazosin, and tamsulosin. alpha-Blockers remain one of the mainstays in the treatment of male LUTS and clinical BPH. They exhibit an early onset of efficacy (within less than 1 week) with regard to both symptoms and flow rate improvement, maintain such improvements in open-label and controlled trials for up to 5 years, and have been shown to prevent symptomatic progression.

Keywords: Benign prostatic hyperplasia; Lower urinary tract symptoms; α-Blocker.