Life-Restoring Solution For Postsurgical Patients (NAPSA)—For men who have had—or are scheduled to have— prostate surgery, a new kind of medical device is offering relief from a potentially embarrassing postsurgical condition. This is seen as a victory for patients—a large majority of whom are age 65 or older—who feared the possibility of life-changing aftereffects. About Prostate Cancer Prostate cancer is one of the most common types of cancer among American men;it is a slow- growing disease that mostly affects older men. Prostate removal is a common treatment for early-stage prostate cancer. The surgeon may remove the entire prostate with a type of surgery called radical prostatectomyor, in a few cases, removeonly partofit. In the older population—specifically, age 75 or older—incontinence has generally been seen as an unfortunate side effect of the surgical procedure, with no practical means of correction. Fortunately, thanks to medical advancements, that no longer hasto be the case. According to a study published in “Urology,” inserting an artificial sphincter around the outlet of the bladder can improve the urine leakage that many elderly men experience following removal of the prostate gland for cancer and other diseases. The study evalu- ated outcomes of sphincter place- ment in 29 men, 75 to 83 years of age, who had incontinence after prostate removal. “Just because a patient is elderly doesn’t mean that he won't be able to benefit from an artificial urinary sphincter for treatment of incontinence,” said Dr. R. Corey O’Connor from Medical College of Wisconsin, lead investigator of the study. Men now have aneffective treat- ment option for an embarrassing medical condition. The artificial sphincter used by the group was the AMS 800, developed by Minnesota-based American Medical Systems. The device requires surgical placement and features three main components: a cuff, a pump anda reser- voir balloon. The device markedly reduced the number of absorptive pads needed to deal with urine leakage. Most men reported no complica- tions and needed no additional intervention. In fact, seven of the men no longer required any pads. “The results of our study have shown that elderly men do well after sphincter insertion for urinary incontinence after prostate removal,” concluded O’Connor and his team. “The procedure should not be withheld solely on the basis of patient age.” Before moving forward with any treatment option, speak with your doctor about the benefits andrisks. For more information or to find a prosthetic urologist in your area, visit www.malecontinence.com or call the AMS Patient Liaison at (800) 529-5744. Note to Editors: June is Men’s Health Month. Septemberis Prostate Health Month.
