title: Urinary incontinence after radical prostatectomy - experience of the last 100 cases.
abstract: Radical prostatectomy (RP) is a recognized treatment method of organ-confined prostate cancer. Among post-surgery complications, urinary incontinence is a major one. The aim of this study was to determine the incontinence rate after RP and to analyze factors that might affect it. Between March 2007 and December 2008, 132 RP's were performed at Warsaw Cancer Center. A questionnaire to assess the condition before and after RP was developed by the authors and sent to all treated patients. The questionnaire focused on health status information, function in urinary domain, rate of returning to "normal" activity level as before RP and satisfaction from the treatment. The median age of patients was 62 years. Out of 132 patients 102 subjects (77.2%) responded to the questionnaire. Of all responders, 35 patients (34.3%) reported total urinary continence after RP. After RP 35(34.3%) patients reported total urinary continence and in 55(53.9%) patients urinary incontinence of medium degree was present. In 12 (11.8%) patients significant urinary incontinence developed. The most common cause of urine dripping (82% of patients with any degree of urinary incontinence) was associated with abdominal muscle pressure. No statistically significant association between urinary incontinence and adjuvant radiotherapy after RP or the surgeon performing the RP was found (>0.79, >0.803). Radical prostatectomy carries a certain risk of complications. We observed an 88.2% rate of significant (total and moderate degree) urinary continence. The adjuvant radiotherapy and surgeons, who performed the RP, did not affect the rate of incontinence.
authors.affiliation: Urooncology Department, Maria Skłodowska Curie, Memorial Cancer Hospital, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sosnowski
authors.affiliation: Urooncology Department, Maria Skłodowska Curie, Memorial Cancer Hospital, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Michał
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Szymański
authors.affiliation: Urooncology Department, Maria Skłodowska Curie, Memorial Cancer Hospital, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Jan Karol
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Wolski
authors.affiliation: Urooncology Department, Maria Skłodowska Curie, Memorial Cancer Hospital, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nadolski
authors.affiliation: Urooncology Department, Maria Skłodowska Curie, Memorial Cancer Hospital, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kalinowski
authors.affiliation: Urooncology Department, Maria Skłodowska Curie, Memorial Cancer Hospital, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Demkow
authors.affiliation: Radiotherapy Department, Maria Sklodowska Curie, Memorial Cancer Hospital, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Peczkowski
authors.affiliation: Radiotherapy Department, Maria Sklodowska Curie, Memorial Cancer Hospital, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Małgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pilichowska
authors.affiliation: Pathology Department, Maria Sklodowska Curie, Memorial Cancer Hospital, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Marcin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ligaj
authors.affiliation: Biostatistic Department, Maria Sklodowska Curie, Memorial Cancer Hospital, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Wojciech
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Michalski
keywords: Quality of Life (QL); incontinence; prostate cancer; radical prostatectomy