Pelvic floor re-education reduced incontinence 1 year after radical prostatectomy
QUESTION: Does pelvic floor re-education reduce the duration and degree of urinary incontinence after radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer?
Design
Randomised, (unclear allocation concealment), blinded (patients and outcome assessors), controlled trial with follow up to 1 year.
Setting
A university hospital in KU Leuven, Belgium.
Patients
102 men (mean age 65 y) who had radical retropubic prostatectomy (maintaining pelvic floor structures) for clinically localised prostate cancer, were incontinent 15 days after surgery (after catheter removal), and could regularly attend hospital appointments. Follow up was 96%.
Intervention
Patient allocation was stratified by previous transurethral resection of the prostate and urine loss 1 day after catheter removal. 50 men were allocated to a pelvic floor re-education programme, which consisted of individual treatment in an outpatient clinic once a week for as long as incontinence persisted, up to 1 year. The training programme included education about the anatomy and function of the bladder and pelvic floor and active pelvic floor …
