Trial Study of the Efficacy of Intensive Preoperative Pelvic Floor Muscle Training to Decrease Post-prostatectomy Urinary Incontinence

Urinary incontinence after radical prostatectomy is a significant clinical problem despite advances in surgical techniques. In the literature, the incidence of post prostatectomy urinary incontinence varies widely from 0.5 to 87% (Parekh et al, 2003). Various reasons are held responsible for this wide discrepancy, including surgical technique, definition of incontinence, time of evaluation, pathological stage, and patient age. The etiology of post prostatectomy urinary incontinence has been attributed to sphincteric deficiency, either from injury of striated muscle fibres or the innervating nerve fibres (Koelbl et al 2002). The effect of urinary incontinence on the quality of life in these patients has been subject to debate (Litwin et al, 1995; Braslis et al, 1995). For many patients, however, early recovery from urinary incontinence has been a major concern (Moore et al, 1999), especially in younger patients. Various treatment modalities for post prostatectomy urinary incontinence have been introduced, including conservative managemnt such as pelvic floor muscle training, pharmacological treatment and surgical treatment. However, surgery is an invasive procedure and it's usually be the last resort. Although the Cochrane Incontinence Group (2007) commented on the need for ongoing research to clarify the role of pelvic floor muscle training, it is still the first-line treatment used to restore pelvic floor or bladder function after radical prostatectomy (MacDonald et. al., 2007). Currently, patients learned pelvic floor muscle training on the day of admission for surgery by ward staff in HA hospitals of Hong Kong. Subsequently, after removal of urethral catheter, patients will attend the nurse-led clinic for reassessment and reinforcement of pelvic floor muscle training. The continence rates which defined as zero pad were 69%, 78.7% and 88.9% at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months respectively (Tam and Ho et al., 2010). In order to determine the efficacy of intensive