SUCCESS OF THE NARROW-BACKED CUFF DESIGN OF THE AMS800 ARTIFICIAL URINARY SPHINCTER - ANALYSIS OF 144 PATIENTS

The narrow-backed cuff design of the AMS800 artificial urinary sphinct er was introduced to improve transmission of cuff pressure to underlyi ng tissue and, theoretically, to decrease the incidence of cuff erosio n. The AMS800 urinary sphincter with this design change was implanted in 136 male and 8 female patients (mean age 57 years). Mean followup w as 28 months. The cuff was placed around the bladder neck in all 8 fem ale and in 29 male patients, and it was implanted around the bulbous u rethra in the remaining 107. The 4.5 cm. cuff in combination with the 61 to 70 cm. pressure balloon was implanted in 109 patients. There wer e 12 device failures and 12 surgical complications. Five patients requ ired cuff removal and none required reoperation for inadequate cuff pr essure. Postoperatively, 132 patients reported satisfactory continence . The design change of the AMS800 and the use of the 4.5 cm. cuff with the 61 to 70 cm. pressure balloon decreased the incidence of cuff ero sion and the need for reoperation for inadequate cuff pressure.