Incidence and impact of acute urinary retention after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy

To explore the incidence of and potential risk factors for acute urine retention (AUR) after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) and its effect on early urine continence.

A retrospective analysis of patients who underwent RARP by a single surgeon between July 2016 and June 2017 was performed to assess the incidence of AUR and its effect on early continence. Continence was assessed through self-reported questionnaires completed approximately three months after surgery. Early urine continence was defined as using zero pads per day at the time of the three-month follow-up. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were used to assess independent predictor of AUR.

Of 379 patients, 19 (5%) developed AUR after RARP. No significant difference in baseline characteristics between those who developed AUR post-RARP and those who did not. There was no statistically significant difference in the reported early continence and number of pads used per day between patients with AUR and patients without AUR (31.6% vs. 23.1%, P = 0.39), (1.6 vs. 1.4, P = 0.913), respectively.

AUR post-RARP is an infrequent postoperative complication with no impact on early continence rate. No patient-related factors were associated with the development of AUR.