Percutaneous antegrade collagen injection therapy for urinary incontinence following radical prostatectomy.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the potential utility of glutaraldehyde cross-linked collagen (GAX-collagen) administered in an antegrade fashion into the submucosa of the bladder neck in patients who present with postprostatectomy urinary incontinence.

METHODS: Twenty-four men aged 59 to 76 years (mean 69.0) with stress type urinary incontinence after radical prostatectomy were evaluated in this study. All patients had previously received retrograde collagen (mean number of treatments 4.33; amount of collagen was 25.72 mL) and had failed to develop further improvement by this approach alone. These patients subsequently received antegrade collagen via a suprapubic approach. An average of 7.1 mL of GAX-collagen was used for the procedure.

RESULTS: Minimal follow-up was 12 months (range 12 to 15). Patients were considered cured if they were dry and wore no pads or were socially continent with less than one pad per day. Eighteen of 24 patients (75%) were dry at the 6-month follow-up. With longer follow-up at 12 months, however, only 9 of 24 patients (37.5%) were totally dry. All patients experienced symptomatic improvement as manifested by lower pad usage.

CONCLUSIONS: With proper patient selection, antegrade administration of GAX-collagen in patients who have failed standard retrograde collagen injection may salvage many patients from eventual failure of the conservative treatment approach. As newer injectables become available, the overall results may improve.