Physiotherapy in rehabilitation of patients with urinary incontinence after radical prostatectomy

Abstract

The leading treatment for prostate cancer is radical prostatectomy with variations of access to the affected organ which leads to urinary incontinence in the postoperative period. In order to treat this complication, conservative methods, including a wide range of physical factors, are used. The purpose of the article is to conduct an analytical review of the literature on physical methods of treating urinary incontinence in patients with prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy. Materials. The review included data from the following electronic databases: Scopus, Web of Science, MedLine, Wiley, World Health Organization, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, ScienceDirect, PubMed, eLibrary, CyberLeninka, and disserCat. Results. The research databases include various methods of exercises for the pelvic floor muscles with or without using the method of electromyographic biofeedback, Pilates, general, local, and penile vibratory therapy, transanal, pudendal, and tibial electrical stimulation, electrical stimulation of the pelvic floor muscles and bladder, and extracorporeal magnetic stimulation. Conclusion. It seems impossible to determine the most effective method of rehabilitation due to the large variability of treatment protocols, sample sizes, timing of the start of procedures, techniques, and assessment time points. No study has data on the patients’ catamnesis. Further studies and the search for a drug-free non-invasive method of physical therapy for the rehabilitation of prostate cancer patients who have undergone radical prostatectomy are justified.