There is a new dog in town, the ProACT™ (Adjustable Continence Therapy), which is a male stress urinary incontinence device. ProACT™ is a minimally invasive, adjustable, surgically implanted device. ProAct is designed to help a man control their stress incontinence resulting from the surgical treatment for prostate cancer or a radical prostatectomy.
As opposed to some of the alternative methods that will help a man to regain control of their urine, the ProAct can be adjusted as needed.
The ProACT device consists of two opposing silicone balloons implanted along the urethra at the bladder neck. Each balloon is connected to a titanium port situated in the scrotum to enable postoperative adjustments.
In sixty-five patients, no control armed study of men who had ProACT implantation, the operative time was 19 minutes (range10-35) with less than 20mls of blood loss in all cases. The mean follow up was 19.51 months (range 12-62) with all men achieving12 months follow up. Postoperatively, 68% of men were shown to be dry (n = 44) as indicated by daily pad count, 16% improved (n =10), and a further 14% were unchanged.
The postoperative PGI questionnaire showed 42 pts (65%) enormously improved, 10 pts (16%) very improved, 6 pts (9%) slightly improved. The IQoL increased from 31.7 at baseline to 63.4 at the last follow-up (p< 0.005). The overall improvement was 80%. Balloon explanation occurred in eleven patients (17%) resulting from erosion (5), infection (2), migration (2), and balloon failure (2).
This new treatment option, ProACT, is minimally invasive, which is now shown to be efficacious at 2 years. The results demonstrate a reduction in pad usage, an improvement in Quality of Life (QoL) with a low rate of complications.
ProAct is a passive intervention that does not require any sort of manipulation by the man to either control his ability to urinate or to "hold in" his urine in his bladder. In case of any complications, the device can be removed.
Unfortunately, there are only a small number of urologists who are using the ProAct device. To learn more about the device and to find a physician who uses ProAct go to the company website at https://www.uromedica-inc.com
