ABSTRACT

The number of men undergoing surgery for prostate cancer continues to rise, with over 60 000 radical prostatectomies having been performed in the US in 2005 alone. Dramatic improvements in surgical techniques aiming to minimize postoperative incontinence have been made, but the percentage of men seeking help for postprostatectomy incontinence is still surprisingly high, reported at nearly 10%.1 Incontinence has been shown to severely impact quality of life in these men;2 thus, helping them is of the utmost importance. This concern has heightened in the prostate specific antigen (PSA) era, as men are being treated for prostate cancer much earlier in life and living much longer with incontinence related problems.