The interesting thing for us as doctors is how many men have leakage and minimize it almost to a point of denial. We have seen several patients who clearly stated they do not have incontinence and do not use pads.
Newark, Delaware (PRWEB) May 29, 2009
In the past, a big fear for males undergoing either radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer or trimming for a blocking prostate (BPH) was urinary incontinence. Incontinence after radical prostatectomy will generally occur in about 2% of cases. Leakage after an over-aggressive trimming of a prostate for blockage occurs less often, but it's not unheard of.
Of course, the cases of male incontinence can vary by degrees depending on their perspective. After radical prostatectomy, men are often more willing to cope with their leakage than to undergo yet another procedure. A successful treatment is the American Medical Systems 800TM Urinary Control System, also known as an artificial urinary sphincter (AUS). It is the only artificial urinary sphincter currently on the market. For over 30 years, physicians worldwide have surgically implanted the device in more than 94,000 men as a treatment for stress urinary incontinence due to prostatectomy.
However, many patients who leak mildly or moderately, using 1-4 pads per day, feel that an AUS is too invasive, because of the degree of their incontinence and/or amount of leakage. Dr. Muench counsels that the surgery only requires just one or two small incisions. Considered the gold stand in treating incontinence, AUS is very effective in stopping even the most severe leakage. The results are effective and long lasting and well worth considering.
For those patients who are not candidates for AUS, there is the AdVance® Male Sling System (AMS), also from American Medical Systems, used with great success by Dr. Muench, is effective in cases of mild to moderate incontinence. He believes that the AdVance® will appeal to many patients as a minimally invasive procedure with a high success rate. The procedure takes about 30 minutes, under spinal or general anesthesia, as an outpatient procedure. The recovery is quick and results are immediate. Patients treated with AdVance® are extremely pleased with the results.
New Female Stress Incontinence Treatments
By the same token, advances in female stress incontinence are resulting in further refinement of slings for women. The new The MiniArc® Single-Incision Sling System from American Medical Systems is a revolutionary procedure that uses a single-incision approach to reduce invasiveness and enhance patient recovery. Mini-Arc's can be placed in just 10 minutes, as an outpatient procedure, with an almost immediate return to normal daily activities and an immediate end to leakage. The sling is only 5cm long, compared to other slings on the market that are three or four times the length.
The male bladder sling has been around for several years and is similar in scope to a female bladder sling. The revolutionary idea is the brainchild of urologists Peter Redher, MD, and Christian Gozzi, MD, who questioned the validity of old beliefs and wanted to treat male incontinence the same way they treated female incontinence. Previously, doctors had been conditioned to believe that the strong, narrow and muscular male pelvis could never allow the bladder to drop the way a female pelvis does. Questioning old beliefs pointed them to the key component of male leakage after prostate removal, which is hypermobility. Hypermobility refers to movement and is the most common cause of female stress incontinence. The male sling solution supports the dropped bladder neck, just as in the female sling concept.
What you don't say will not cure you
The inaccurate underrepresentation of male incontinence is similar to how erectile dysfunction was under reported before the discovery of Viagra. After Viagra, once men realized there was an easy, effective treatment, they readily admitted to the condition. Therefore it would appear that incidence of erectile dysfunction rose with the discovery of Viagra as a treatment, when really only the reporting was increased. Similarly Dr. Muench believes that the incidence of male urinary incontinence will rise with the advent of solutions such as the AdVance®, once men realize how effective and non-invasive it is.
"The interesting thing for us as doctors is how many men have leakage and minimize it almost to a point of denial. We have seen several patients who clearly stated they do not have incontinence and do not use pads." Dr. Muench tries to get his patients to open up to other ideas, by merely discussing the minimally invasive procedures that do not require much recovery. It is at this point that patients often become willing to admit to mild to moderate incontinence - making them curious enough to pursue these new options. Open recognition of a problem is always the first step towards solving it.
About Peter J. Muench, MD and DelawareUrologic.com
Dr. Muench is certified by the American Board of Urology. He is Medical Director of Delaware Urologic Associates (DUA) in Newark, Delaware. DUA specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of male and female urologic disorders, using minimally invasive procedures. For more information about Dr. Muench's state-of-the-art urology treatments, including those for urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction, please don't hesitate to call his office at 302-266-7577 or visit his website:http://www.delawareurologic.com.
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