title: Pelvic floor muscle training for erectile dysfunction and climacturia 1 year after nerve sparing radical prostatectomy: a randomized controlled trial.
abstract: This study aimed to determine whether patients with persistent erectile dysfunction (ED), minimum 12 months after radical prostatectomy (RP), experienced a better recovery of erectile function (EF) with pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) compared with patients without this intervention. Second, we aimed to investigate the effect of PFMT on climacturia. All patients, who underwent RP, with persistent ED of minimum 1 year post operation were eligible. The treatment group started PFMT immediately at 12 months post operation and the control group started at 15 months after RP. All patients received PFMT during 3 months. The sample size needed to detect with 80% power a 6 points-difference regarding the EF-domain of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF), was at least 12 subjects per group. Patients were evaluated using the IIEF and questioned regarding climacturia. Differences between groups at 15 months were evaluated with Mann-Whitney U-test and Fisher's exact test. As a result, the treatment group had a significantly better EF than the control group at 15 months after surgery (P=0.025). Other subdomains of the IIEF remained constant for both groups. The effect of PFMT was maintained during follow-up. At 15 months, a significantly higher percentage of patients in the treatment group showed an improvement regarding climacturia (P=0.004).
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Geraerts
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Van Poppel
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Devoogdt
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Groef
authors.affiliation: Leuven Biostatistics and Statistical Bioinformatics Centre, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fieuws
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Van Kampen
mesh_terms: D007172:Erectile Dysfunction / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017773:Pelvic Floor / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D011468:Prostatectomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy