In a nutshell
The authors aimed to determine erectile dysfunction and incontinence issues in patients following prostate surgery.
Some background
Prostate surgery is a common treatment used in prostate cancer. It involves surgical removal of the prostate gland. There are numerous types of prostate surgery. Nerve-sparing surgery aims to remove the cancerous tissue without damaging the prostate nerves. Bilateral nerve-sparing surgery (BNSRP) aims to remove cancerous tissue without damaging the nerves on either side of the prostate gland. Lymph node dissection (LND) involves removing tissue from the tumor site to determine whether all the cancer cells have been removed. There are two types – extended LND (removes tissue from the entire prostate) and limited LND (standard procedure used that is less invasive). Some patients experience loss of sexual function, erectile function and incontinence (loss of bladder control) following surgery.
Methods & findings
The aim of this study was to determine the extent of erectile dysfunction and incontinence following BNSRP and LND.
460 patients were used in this study. 262 patients (group 1) underwent extended surgery. 198 patients (group 2) underwent limited surgery. After 12 months group 1 had a continence rate of 89.7% and an erectile function recovery rate of 40.4% compared to a continence rate of 93.4% and erectile function recovery rate of 47.5% in group 2.
The seven-year biochemical recurrent- free survival (BCR, a rise in prostate-specific antigen levels, a protein present in prostate cancer) in patients with intermediate prostate cancer (cancer contained within the prostate gland) was 94.8% in group 1 and 100% in group 2. The BCR in patients with moderate prostate cancer (spread to lymph nodes) was 81.2% in group 1 and 94.7% in group 2.
The bottom line
The authors concluded that extended LND is not associated with post-surgery incontinence or erectile dysfunction.
Published By :
World Journal of Urology
Date :
Sep 29, 2015
