Urinary incontinence is common after radical prostate cancer surgery.
The main causes of urinary incontinence are a combination of damage to the external urethral sphincter, damage to the pelvic floor muscles, and disruption of the bladder neck.
Urinary incontinence is the most important reason that plagues patients choosing radical prostate cancer surgery and affects their quality of life after surgery.
The main types of urinary incontinence are true incontinence, stress incontinence, and urge incontinence:
- True urinary incontinence is the most severe postoperative condition in which the patient is completely unable to control urine and leaks urine when lying down, which is rare.
- The vast majority of urinary incontinence is stress incontinence of varying degrees, for example, no leakage when lying in a sitting position, but leakage when standing and walking, which can gradually improve with time and functional training, usually significantly in three months after surgery.
- Urgent urinary incontinence is caused by bladder dysfunction.
Also, difficulty in urination may occur to varying degrees after radical prostate cancer surgery because the bladder neck has to be reshaped and anastomosed with the posterior urethra, resulting in postoperative stenosis of the anastomosis or contracture of the bladder neck to the point of difficulty in urination, requiring endoscopic dissection in severe cases.