Pelvic floor muscle training and electrical stimulation as rehabilitation after radical prostatectomy: a randomized controlled trial.
Carla Elaine Laurienzo, Wesley Justino Magnabosco, Fernanda Jabur and 7 others
PMID 29950773WHAT IT FOUND
After radical prostatectomy, pelvic floor exercises, with or without anal electrical stimulation, did not improve pelvic floor muscle strength more than routine instructions.
Urinary and sexual function worsened after surgery and recovered similarly over time in all groups.
Key findings
01The primary outcome, recovery of pelvic floor muscle strength measured by perineometry, did not differ significantly between the routine instructions group, the home exercise group, and the home exercise plus anal electrical stimulation group at the end of follow-up.
02Urinary leakage measured by the 1-hour pad test and erectile function measured by IIEF-5 showed no significant differences between the groups.
03Quality of life measured by ICIQ-SF and urinary symptoms measured by IPSS also showed no significant differences between the groups at the end of follow-up.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The paper reports that 132 patients were randomized but 123 men were studied. The study did not measure whether patients actually did the home exercises. The study did not record nerve-sparing surgery or postoperative PDE5 inhibitor use. The electrical stimulation group also received the same home exercises, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated. The study was done at a cancer center hospital and tested only the specific home exercise set and anal electrical stimulation protocol described. The paper describes the trial as relatively small and limited to the techniques used.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the Foundation for Research Support of the State of São Paulo, under registration number 2011/12154-7. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that anal electrical stimulation alone is ineffective. It was given together with the same home pelvic floor exercises, so the study cannot separate the contribution of any single component.