Researchers investigated whether postoperative membranous urethral length (MUL) and site of vesico-urethral anastomosis are related to short-term recovery of urine incontinence after robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RARP) position of vesico-urethral anastomosis (PVUA). Between August 2019 and February 2021, 251 patients who underwent RARP had their clinical characteristics assessed. No pads or a single security liner per day, as determined by the patient interview at the 6-month follow-up, no pads or a single security liner per day was considered to indicate successful regaining of continence. After surgery, patients’ ability to regain urinary continence was evaluated at the 3-month mark using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis to determine which factors were most significant. There was a 75% and 84% continence recovery rate at 3 and 6 months. Recovery of continence at 3 months was strongly linked with a lower body mass index (25kg/m2) (P=0.040), a longer MUL (≥9.5 mm) (P=0.013), a longer MUL (≥9 mm) (P<0.001), a higher PVUA (<14.5mm) (P=0.019), and a shorter operation time (<170 min) (P=0.013). Recovery of continence was shown to be independently associated with postoperative MUL (OR 3.75, 95% CI 1.90-7.40, P<0.001) and higher PVUA (OR 2.02, 95% CI 1.07-3.82, P=0.032). The multivariate analysis classified patients into 3 groups, with increasing rates of urine continence recovery in each group over time: from 43.7% to 68.2% to 85.0% (P<0.001) after 3 months. Regaining continence after PVUA and postoperative MUL were both important factors. Keeping your urethra’s natural length following a RARP procedure may help you regain your bladder control.

Source: bmcurol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12894-022-01097-2

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