Prostate Cancer and Incontinence

Featuring Dr. John Warner, BSc, MD, FRCSC

Duration: 1 minute, 2 seconds

Incontinence is actually quite uncommon after radical prostate surgery.

Seventy-five percent of patients have excellent urinary control and don't require any pads, 25% of patients have some degree of incontinence, but the vast majority it's either one pad or less. A very small number, less than 5%, have total incontinence.

The degree of incontinence is based on the patient but it's also based on the physician. And the experience of the physician will impact a large amount on the incontinence of the person. The greater the experience of the surgeon, the greater the chance that that patient is going to have excellent urinary control.

Discussing urinary incontinence is a very difficult thing for patients to do. And they shouldn't be shy, and they need to make an appointment with their family physician or their urologist. There's many things that can be done both in the management of this problem and in the treatment of the problem, but until the physician knows and understands what the problem is, it's difficult to proceed. So first things first, make your appointment.

Presenter: Dr. John Warner, Urologist, Burnaby, BC

Local Practitioners: Urologist