title: Issue of prostate gland size, laparoscopic radical prostatectomy, and continence revisited.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the influence of prostate gland size on the perioperative, pathologic, and continence outcomes after laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP).
  
  
  METHODS
  144 LRPs for which 18-month continence data were available were performed by a single surgeon, and were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were divided initially into two groups based on final prostate gland size: group 1 (weight less than 50 g) and group 2 (weight 50 g or more). Group 2 patients were stratified into group IIa (weight 50 to 70 g) and Group IIb (weight 70 g or more) to further examine the effect of gland size on continence.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Larger glands had higher mean prostate-specific antigen (P <0.05) but among groups there were no significant differences in patient age, Gleason sum, pathological stage, operative time, intraoperative blood loss, or positive margin rate. We noted a significant difference in mean time to recovery of continence for patients with small glands versus large glands: group 1 (8.2 months), group 2 (9.9 months), group IIa (8.5 months), and group IIb (13.8 months) (P <0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Prostate gland size had no effect on perioperative outcomes. However, recovery of postoperative continence can be delayed in patients with large prostates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10467, USA.
authors.forename: Paul M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Milhoua
authors.forename: Philip T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Koi
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lowe
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ghavamian
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009929:Organ Size; D011467:Prostate / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D011468:Prostatectomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000209:etiology