Early Recovery Of Urinary Continence After Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy Using Early Pelvic Floor Electrical Stimulationand Biofeedback Associated Treatment

Objective: We analyzed the benefit of the early combined use of functional pelvicfloor electrical stimulation and biofeedback in terms of time to recovery and rateof continence after laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.Methods: A total of 60 consecutive patients who underwent laparoscopic radical prostatectomy were included in the study.Patients were prospectively ran-domized to a treatment group(group 1)vs a control group(group 2).In group 1 aprogram of pelvic floor electrical stimulation plus biofeedback began 7 days aftercatheter removal,twice a week for 6 weeks.Each of the 12 treatment sessionswas composed of biofeedback(15 minutes)followed by pelvic floor electricalstimulation(20 minutes).The evaluation of continence was performed at time 0,at 2 and 4 weeks,and at 2,3,4,5 and 6 months during followup.Evaluationswere performed using the 24-hour pad test and the incontinence section of theInternational Continence Society questionnaire.Results: The mean leakage weight became significantly lower(p ?0.05)in group1 than in group 2 starting at 4 weeks until 6 months of followup.A significantdifference(p < 0.05)between groups 1 and 2 in terms of percentage of continentpatients was achieved from 4 weeks(63.3% group 1 and 30.0% group 2)to 6months(96.7% group 1 and 66.7% group 2).Conclusion: Early,noninvasive physical treatment with biofeedback and pelvicfloor electrical stimulation has a significant positive impact on the early recoveryof urinary continence after laparoscopic radical prostatectomy.