New artificial device for men with bladder control problems

A NEW type of artificial urinary sphincter has been used for the first time in South Africa at a private hospital in Pretoria to treat men with severe urinary incontinence – the loss of bladder control.

The device, a Victo adjustable artificial urinary sphincter, has been surgically implanted in a Krugersdorp man who suffered from stress incontinence problems, which is when bladder control is lost during a cough, sneeze or activity such as lifting.

Insertion of the device involved a minimally invasive procedure by a team led by urologist Dr Johan Venter at Netcare Pretoria East Hospital.

According to Netcare hospital division managing director Jacques du Plessis, this latest generation artificial sphincter was especially sent to South Africa from abroad at the request of Venter.

“An artificial urinary sphincter is widely considered the gold standard of treatment for complete urinary incontinence in men who have suffered irreparable damage to the urinary sphincter,” Venter said.

“We were, however, particularly impressed by this new-generation artificial urinary sphincter option.

“Our investigations revealing that it was the best new alternative available globally for cases such as this one.

“Advantages it offers include that it is easy for patients to use and does not require further invasive surgeries should it require adjustment in future.”

According to Venter, the procedure was completed successfully two weeks ago.

“The patient is doing well, having been discharged a day after their procedure.

“The artificial sphincter is activated about six weeks after implantation, once we are sure the patients have fully healed and accepted the device,” Venter said.

The team will soon perform a further procedure using the artificial sphincter on a Pretoria man with severe urinary stress incontinence, and will now be offering it as a standard urinary sphincter replacement option at the Netcare Pretoria East Hospital.

Venter explained that the Victo device has a pump that is palpated by the patient when he needs to urinate.

This is made of soft silicone that is easy for the patient to operate and serves to deactivate the cuff of the sphincter so the patient can pass urine normally.

“The entire device is implanted and it is compact, limiting the size of the foreign object within the body.

“It offers two configurations, and four cuff sizes are available for each to provide a better fit for each patient’s anatomy, which can vary considerably,” Venter said. – Staff Writer