Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate for Advanced Prostate Cancer-Related Bladder Outlet Obstruction: Assessing Effectiveness and Unraveling Factors Impacting Postoperative Urinary Incontinence.

Abstract

This study investigated the factors associated with transient urinary incontinence (TUI) after holmium laser enucleation of the prostate (HoLEP) as a palliative treatment in patients with severe bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) and advanced prostate cancer (PCA). Data of 28 patients with advanced PCA (≥cT3) who underwent palliative HoLEP between October 2018 and March 2021 were included in this retrospective study. After collection of the pre-, intra-, and postoperative (1, 3, and 12 months) data of patients from their medical records, variables of patients with and without TUI at 1 and 3-12 months postoperatively were statistically compared. Multivariate analysis was performed to investigate the factors associated with postoperative TUI. Compared to baseline, the mean total international prostate symptom score, quality of life score, maximum flow rate (Qmax), and postvoid residual (PVR) were significantly improved 1 month postoperatively, and this was maintained until 12 months postoperatively (p<0.001). Of the 28 patients, 14 (50.00%) and 6 (21.43%) presented with TUI at 1 and 3-12 months postoperatively, respectively. Patients with TUI at 1 month follow-up showed a significantly lower preoperative Qmax (p=0.027), larger preoperative PVR (p=0.004), and higher likelihood of bladder neck tumor invasion (p=0.046). Conversely, patients with TUI at 3-12 months postoperatively were significantly older (p=0.033) and had a longer enucleation time (p=0.033). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the factors affecting TUI were preoperative Qmax (odds ratio [OR]=0.61; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.39-0.93; p=0.016) and bladder invasion of the tumor (OR=26.72; 95% CI=1.83-390.42; p=0.022) after 1 month; however, none of the variables correlated significantly with TUI at 3-12 months. Palliative HoLEP is an effective management option in patients with advanced PCA-related BOO. Lower preoperative Qmax and bladder neck tumor invasion are the factors affecting TUI at 1 month postoperatively.