Efficacy and safety evaluation of imidafenacin administered twice daily for continency recovery following radical prostatectomy in prostate cancer patients: Prospective open-label case-controlled randomized trial.

Purpose: This study aims to prospectively analyze the effects of anticholinergic therapy using imidafenacin on detrusor overactivity occurring after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP).

Materials and methods: Patients were followed-up at outpatient visits 2-4 weeks post-surgery (visit 2) to confirm the presence of urinary incontinence. Those confirmed with urinary incontinence were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to the anticholinergic medication group (imidafenacin 0.1 mg twice daily) or the control group. Patients were followed-up at 1, 3, and 6 months post-surgery for observational assessments, including the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and Overactive Bladder Symptom Score (OABSS).

Results: A total of 49 patients (25 in the treatment group and 24 in the control group) were randomized for the study. There were no differences observed between the groups in terms of age, comorbidities, prostate size, or pathological staging. According to the IPSS questionnaire results, there was no statistically significant difference between the medication and control groups (p=0.161). However, when comparing storage and voiding symptoms separately, there was a statistically significant improvement in storage symptom scores (p=0.012). OABSS also revealed statistically significant improvement in symptoms from 3 months post-surgery (p=0.005), which persisted until 6 months post-surgery (IPSS storage: p=0.023, OABSS: p=0.013).

Conclusions: In the case of urinary incontinence that occurs after RARP, even if the function of the intrinsic sphincter is sufficiently preserved, if urinary incontinence persists due to changes in the bladder, pharmacological therapy using imidafenacin can be beneficial in managing urinary incontinence.