TRANSURETHRAL COLLAGEN INJECTION FOR TREATMENT OF POSTPROSTATECTOMY URINARY-INCONTINENCE IN MEN

Objectives. Transurethral injection of glutaraldehyde cross-linked bov ine collagen has recently been advocated as a potentially useful treat ment modality for management of urinary incontinence. The reported cli nical experience with urethral collagen injection in adult males has b een limited. Methods. This study summarizes the current literature and reviews the clinical results of collagen injection in a group of 25 m en with incontinence after either transurethral or radical prostatecto my. Results. The overall results in this series were disappointing. On ly 2 patients (8%) achieved significant improvement with this treatmen t. Eight patients (32%) experienced minimal improvement in symptoms, a nd 15 (60%) remained incontinent with no improvement in symptoms after collagen injection. The number of injection procedures and volume of collagen material implanted did not correlate with clinical outcome. F ive patients (20%) have subsequently required placement of an artifici al urinary sphincter to control their incontinence. Conclusions. We co nclude that transurethral injection of glutaraldehyde cross-linked bov ine collagen has a limited role in the management of urinary incontine nce in adult men after prostatectomy. (C) 1997, Elsevier Science Inc.