Long-term continence outcomes in men undergoing radical prostatectomy for clinically localized prostate cancer

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.