DeSoto SpaceOar Procedure

Baptist DeSoto now offers a new procedure, called SpaceOAR^® hydrogel insertion, which reduces rectal injury during prostate radiotherapy and helps alleviate some common side effects seen in prostate cancer patients.

Rectal injury can occur during prostate cancer radiation treatment because the rectum sits next to the prostate and can receive high radiation doses. To reduce injury, SpaceOAR hydrogel physically pushes the rectum away from the prostate during treatment, reducing both the rectal radiation dose and side effects. The hydrogel spacer is injected during a minimally invasive procedure, and, once in place, patients typically can’t feel it. The hydrogel is safe and similar to other products used in brain surgery, cardiology and ophthalmology. It remains in place for three months during radiation treatment and is then absorbed and exits the body in the patient’s urine, leaving nothing behind.

To learn more about this procedure, please email our oncology nurse navigator at bridget.tunstall@bmhcc.org.