Impact of metabolic syndrome on early recovery of continence after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of metabolic syndrome on the early recovery of urinary continence after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.

METHODS: The present study included a total of 302 consecutive Japanese patients with clinically localized prostate cancer who underwent robot-assisted radical prostatectomy. In this study, postoperative urinary continence was defined as no leak or the use of a security pad. The continence status was assessed by interviews before and 1 and 3 months after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy. Metabolic syndrome was defined as follows: body mass index ≥25 kg/m(2) and two or more of the following: hypertension, diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia. The effect of the presence of metabolic syndrome on the continence status of these patients was retrospectively examined.

RESULTS: A total of 116 (38.4%) and 203 (67.2%) of the 302 patients were continent at 1 and 3 months after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy, respectively. A total of 31 (10.3%) patients were judged to have metabolic syndrome. Despite the operative time being longer in patients with metabolic syndrome, no significant differences were observed in the remaining preoperative, intraoperative or postoperative variables between patients with or without metabolic syndrome. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, metabolic syndrome and the duration of hospitalization were significantly correlated with the 1-month continence status. Similarly, metabolic syndrome and estimated blood loss during surgery were independent predictors of continence rates at 3 months after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.

CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the presence of metabolic syndrome could have a significant impact on the early recovery of urinary continence after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.