prostate-report.org

Postprostatectomy incontinence

A research team has reviewed current data on the diagnosis and management of post-surgical stress incontinence in patients treated with radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer. Their summary notes that the European Association of Urology recommends a two-stage assessment for diagnosis of postprostatectomy incontinence.

Noninvasive therapy, pelvic floor-muscle training and biofeedback, is recommended in early postoperative and mild incontinence. They further note that treatment with duloxetine (Cymbalta) is especially effective in combination with physiotherapy, where it synergistically improves the continence rate.

For surgical treatment, the insertion of an artificial urinary sphincter is still the gold standard. They conclude that several minimal invasive treatment options have been introduced with different rates of success in recent years, but they have not yet surpassed the results of the artificial sphincter.