Abstract
BACKGROUND: Urinary incontinence is a common short-term complication of radical prostatectomy (RP). Little is known about the long-term impact of RP on continence. OBJECTIVE: To elucidate the long-term progression of continence after RP. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: From October 2000 through September 2012, 1788 men undergoing open RP for clinically localized prostate cancer by a single surgeon at an urban tertiary care center prospectively signed consent to be followed before RP and at 3, 6, 12, 24, 96, and 120 mo after RP. A consecutive sampling method was used and all men were included in this study. INTERVENTION: Men underwent open RP. OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Regression models controlled for preoperative University of California, Los Angeles-Prostate Cancer Index urinary function score (UCLA-PCI-UFS), age, prostate-specific antigen level, Gleason score, stage, nerve-sparing status, race, and marital status were used to evaluate the association of time since RP with two dependent variables: UCLA-PCI-UFS and continence status. RESULTS AND LIMITATION: The mean UCLA-PCI-UFS declined between 2 yr and 8 yr (83.8 vs 81.8; p=0.007) and marginally between 8 yr and 10 yr (81.8 vs 79.6; p=0.036) after RP, whereas continence rate did not significantly change during these intervals. Men ≥ 60 yr old experienced a decline in mean UCLA-PCI-UFS between 2 yr and 8 yr (p=0.002) and a marginal decline in continence rate between 2 yr and 10 yr (p=0.047), whereas these variables did not change significantly in men <60 yr old. These outcomes are for an experienced surgeon, so caution should be exercised in generalizing these results. CONCLUSIONS: Between 2 yr and 10 yr after RP, there were slight decreases in mean UCLA-PCI-UFS and continence rates in this study. Men aged <60 yr had better long-term outcomes. These results provide realistic long-term continence expectations for men undergoing RP.