Health care
BY AMIRA VAN LEEUWEN
Optilume device treats urethral scar tissue at Resolute Baptist Hospital in New Braunfels
How it works The Optilume is used to reduce the risk of the scar tissue returning in the urethra.
1 Insertion A drug-coated balloon is inserted into the urethra.
A device called the Optilume is helping to reduce the risk of recurring scar tissue in patients with urethral strictures, said Dr. Ryan Donahue, a urologist at Resolute Baptist Hospital in New Braunfels. Donahue said scarring in patients with a urethral stricture is thought to be an overactive, inflammatory response. Some patients might also have scarring because of difficulties urinating. When doctors cut open the urethra or dilate it again, the chance that scar tissue comes back is about 50%, Donahue said. Explained The Optilume device is a drug-coated balloon that is inserted into the urethra and inflated. This allows a chemotherapy agent called paclitaxel to balloon into the tissue, Donahue said. “The hope is that this is going to inhibit the
body’s overactive mechanisms of healing and therefore it should reduce our recurrence of the scar,” Donahue said. The Optilume also prevents patients from undergoing a much more invasive surgery called urethroplasty. The Optilume device can also be used for patients who have had complications following prostate cancer treatment, Donahue said. “It has actually revolutionized our treatment of scar tissue for urethral strictures,” Donahue said. What else? Resolute Baptist Hospital in New Braunfels began using the Optilume device in 2025, Dona- hue said. “It’s a very safe, really low risk augmentation to a procedure that we’re already doing,” he said.
2 Dilation The paclitaxel coated balloon dilates, or inflates in the urethra.
3 Drug release The paclitaxel is released into the urethra.
4 Deflation After the treatment is complete, the balloon is removed.
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