The Impact of Urinary Incontinence in the Prostate Cancer Patient

How Urological Complications Are Treated Following Prostate Cancer Treatment

For men suffering from prostate cancer, there are many other co-morbid health complications which lead to an overwhelming sense of confusion and can create emotional complications in the prostate cancer patient. Such co-morbid complications often involve issues associated with urinary and sexual health but men, as a whole, can be overcome by a combination of these complications.

One such urological complication, urinary incontinence, can lead to emotional and psychological deterioration when left untreated following prostate cancer treatment. For many men, some level of temporary urinary incontinence may be associated with an enlarged prostate or treatments of prostate cancer but, for others, the incontinence is much more significant, resulting in the inability to control the activities of the bladder.

What is important to understand is that urinary incontinence, following prostate surgery, including orchiectomy and prostatectomy, and following radiation or chemotherapy, is quite common. In many cases, temporary urinary incontinence can last as long as 12 months. For this reason, taking radical steps to resolve the urinary incontinence, immediately following one of these treatment options for prostate cancer, should be avoided as the urological complications may resolve on its own after a few months of recovery.

When urinary incontinence fails to improve after 12 months post treatment of prostate cancer, the option to pursue more radical forms of urological treatment may be considered. If confirmed as urological complications directly related to nerve damage, associated with the treatment of prostate cancer, the physician may consider the use of a combination of treatments including collagen injections, the use of prescription drugs which control the activity of the bladder and even surgical placement of a sphincter to control the activity of the flow of urine.