Study design, materials and methods
This was a retrospective single-center case series. Eight male patients diagnosed with PBNO between January 2021 and May 2022 were included. Eligible patients were aged 18 to 40 years, unmarried, and childless, and all were managed without surgery during the study period. Among the 8 patients, 2 were managed with observation alone, 3 received intermittent oral alpha-blocker therapy, and 3 underwent intermittent acupuncture or traditional Chinese medicine treatment. Baseline clinical characteristics and follow-up data were collected. Changes in International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), quality of life (QoL) score, and maximum flow rate (Qmax) were assessed during follow-up.
Interpretation of results
PBNO is a recognized cause of lower urinary tract symptoms in young men, and alpha-blocker therapy has been reported to improve symptom scores, quality of life, and urinary flow parameters in this population [1,2]. Recent evidence synthesis also supports conservative and medical management as a reasonable option in selected young men, although the overall evidence base remains limited [3]. In the present cohort, young mainland Chinese men with PBNO were characterized by young age at presentation, relatively long symptom duration, and clinically significant lower urinary tract symptoms. During long-term follow-up, observation or conservative management was associated with improvement in symptom score, quality of life, and urinary flow parameters compared with baseline. Importantly, no patient required surgery during follow-up. These findings suggest that, in selected young patients with relatively stable symptoms, conservative management may provide sustained clinical benefit and may represent a feasible initial approach.