Posterior Reconstruction of the Rhabdosphincter Allows a Rapid Recovery of Continence after Transperitoneal Videolaparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy

Objectives: Urinary incontinence is one of the major drawbacks of radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP). One of the possible reasons for this urinary incontinence is a postoperative deficiency of the rhabdosphincter (RS). It has been recently demonstrated that reconstruction of the posterior aspects of the RS allows a rapid recovery of continence after RRP. This study evaluated the application of this technique in videolaparoscopic radical prostatectomy (VLRP), assessing the percentage of continent patients at 3, 30, and 90 d after catheter removal. Methods: A two-arm prospective comparative trial was carried out with 31 patients recruited for each arm. Group A underwent standard VLRP and group B underwent VLRP with RS reconstruction (VLRP-R). Continence was defined as no pads or one diaper/24 h and was assessed 3, 30, and 90 d after the procedure. Results: At catheter removal, 74.2% versus 25% (p = 0.0004) of patients were continent with the VLRP-R technique versus VLRP, respectively. A statistically significant difference was present at 30 d (83.8% vs. 32.3%; p = 0.0001) At 90 d the difference, although still present, was not statistically significant (92.3% vs. 76.9%; p = 0.25). Conclusions: In this preliminary report, the posterior reconstruction of the RS appears to be an easy and feasible technique even in a laparoscopic setting. Time to continence recovery was significantly shortened. © 2006 European Association of Urology.