Evaluation of patient outcome after discontinuation of alfuzosin treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia: a multicentre, prospective study

Aims: The aim of this study was to assess patient outcome after discontinuation of alfuzosin treatment in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Methods: This study included 200 BPH patients. Alpha‐blockers were discontinued after 12 weeks of treatment when the International Prostatic Symptom Score (IPSS) was reduced to < 8 points, peak urine flow rate (Qmax) was increased to ≥ 15 ml/s, the postvoiding residual (PVR) urine volume was ≤ 100 ml and the patient agreed to discontinue treatment. Urinary symptoms of the patients were assessed at 4, 8, 12 and 24 weeks after discontinuation of medication, and surveys were performed asking whether patients wanted to restart administration of medication. Results: Of 200 enrolled patients, 142 (71.00%) received 12 weeks of treatment with 10 mg of alfuzosin. The medication was discontinued in 58 of 142 patients (40.85%) because urinary symptoms had improved. Among these patients, follow‐up observations were performed for 49 patients up to 24 weeks after treatment discontinued. Of these 49 patients, 28 (57.14%) showed correct urination without a need to restart treatment up to 24 weeks after the medication was discontinued. The discontinuation group demonstrated improved voiding symptoms, including Qmax and PVR, relative to the re‐administration group at baseline. Furthermore, the discontinuation group showed a smaller prostate volume than the re‐administration group (p = 0.045). Conclusion: When patients with BPH displayed symptomatic improvement upon treatment with alpha‐blockers, the improvements were maintained in a select subpopulation of patients without the need to re‐administer the alpha‐blockers.