Is artificial urinary sphincter surgery safe and effective in elderly males aged 70 years and above?

To evaluate the clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction rate between men aged under and over 70 years who underwent artificial urinary sphincter (AUS) surgery.

A prospective review of all men who received AUS between January 2008 and January 2018 was undertaken with a minimum 24-month review. All patient demographics and surgical outcomes including data on the Incontinence Impact Questionnaire, Patient Global Impression of Improvement (PGI-I) and National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Frailty Index (NSQIP-FI) scores, as well as patient satisfaction rates, were recorded.

Of the 245 AUS implanted, 60 patients were aged ≥70 years with 45 virgin cases and 15 revision AUS. Reduction in mean pad use and weight over 24 hours were significant at 0.21 (0-1) pads and 8 (0-30) g in both groups with no significant difference (P = 0.76). Kaplan-Meier estimates of AUS survival showed no significant difference between men aged ≥ and <70 years at 1 year (98% versus 96%; P = 0.44). The multivariate logistic regression model showed that radiation (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 3.8, 95% CI 1.4-6.8; P < 0.01) was a significant predictor of AUS revision, while age ≥ 70 years (adjusted OR 1.0, 95% CI 0.8-8.8; P = 0.14) and frailty (NSQIP-FI ≥ 0.27 adjusted OR 0.9, 95% CI 0.2-7.6; P = 0.82) were not. There were no significant differences in PGI-I scores (P = 0.43) and overall satisfaction rate (83% versus 84%; P = 0.44) between the two groups.

Men aged ≥70 years reported similar clinical efficacy as men aged <70 years in terms of device survival and satisfaction rates following AUS surgery.