ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL TESTING IN PATIENTS OPERATED WITH THE NERVE SPARING TECHNIQUE FOR BLADDER AND PROSTATE-CANCER

Operations performed with the 'nerve sparing' technique allow a better quality of life preventing impotence and incontinence. To evaluate th e results of these operations, 35 patients were studied preoperatively with neurophysiological tests. These included electromyography of the bulbocavernosus muscle and examination of the sacral reflexes, the pu dendal somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) (spinal and cortical) an d the motor evoked potentials (MEPs). Fourteen of these patients were also studied at 6 and 12 months after the operation. A good correlatio n was found between clinical situation and neurophysiological evaluati on (above all, the sacral reflexes and the spinal SEPs) in terms of in continence. On the contrary, the correlation was scarce in terms of im potence.