Relation between erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence after nerve-sparing and non-nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy

Introduction: We investigated the status of erectile function and urinary continence after radical prostatectomy to investigate a possible relation between them and then determined whether the status of postoperative urinary continence affected erectile function.

Patients and methods: Seventy-six patients who had no symptoms of erectile dysfunction or urinary incontinence preoperatively were included in this study. The postoperative status of erectile function and urinary continence was investigated using a self-reported patient questionnaire.

Results: Thirteen of 27 patients (48.1%) who underwent nerve-sparing procedures maintained erectile function, while 7 of 49 patients (14.2%) who underwent non-nerve-sparing procedures maintained it postoperatively. None of the 27 patients in the nerve-sparing procedure group reported incontinence, whereas 3 of the 49 patients (6.1%) who underwent non-nerve-sparing procedures reported moderate incontinence. However, no significant correlation between the International Index of Erectile Function-5 score and the Incontinence Impact Questionnaire score was seen.

Conclusion: No relation between the status of urinary continence and erectile function was shown, regardless of the nerve-sparing nature of the prostatectomy.