Radical retropubic prostatectomy

Radical retropubic prostatectomy is associated with complications such as urinary incontinence and impotence, but these outcomes are related to a combination of individual patient anatomy, surgical technique, and the experience and skill of the surgeon.

The procedure was brought to the United States by one of Millin's students, Samuel Kenneth Bacon, M.D., adjunct professor of surgery, University of Southern California, and was refined in 1982 by Patrick C. Walsh[1] at the James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute, Johns Hopkins Medical School.

Additional components of the operation may include: An intraoperative electrical stimulation penile plethysmograph may be applied to assist the surgeon in identifying the difficult to see nerves.

Attempts are made prior to surgery, through medical tests such as bone scans, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), to identify cancer outside of the prostate.

Radical retropubic prostatectomy may also be used if prostate cancer has failed to respond to radiation therapy, but the risk of urinary incontinence is substantial.