ProACT in the management of stress urinary incontinence after radical prostatectomy. What happens after 8 years of follow up? monocentric analysis in 42 patients.

Objectives: Stress urinary incontinence is defined by a complaint of any involuntary loss of urine on effort or physical exertion or on sneezing or coughing and represents a major complication after radical prostatectomy. According to surgical technique, incidence of post-prostatectomy incontinence varies from open (7-39.5%), laparoscopic (5-33.3%) or robotic-assisted (4-31%) approaches. The ProACT^® device (Uromedica, Inc., MN) is a possible surgical option for the treatment of this condition.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed surgical records of consecutive patients underwent ProACT^® implantation in our department between January 2006 to November 2010. We collected data at 6 and 12 months after surgical approach about the daily pad use, International Prostatic Symptoms Score and its quality of life domain.

Results: 42 patients were included in the final analysis. Most patients (92.9%) received minimally invasive surgery for treating prostate cancer. During the follow up after 6 and 12 months, the daily pad, International Prostatic Symptom Score and its quality of life domain significantly improved compared to preoperative outcomes. The logistic regression analysis found that presence of comorbidities was the only predictive factor of low satisfaction rate (PGE-I > 2) in patients who underwent ProACT^® implant.

Conclusions: ProACT^® implant represents an effective and safe treatment for post-prostatectomy stress urinary incontinence with a high satisfaction degree and a low rate of complications.