UPDATE - Issue 07 - February 2001
Advance in Nerve Sparing Technology
The Gold Standard treatment in the USA for prostate cancer confined to the gland is radical prostatectomy - removal of the entire prostate and the cancer within. The most common complication of this surgery is impotence caused by damage to the nerves around the prostate during the operation. Most surgeons currently use a technique known as nerve sparing with results which vary widely depending upon the skill of the surgeon and the age of the patient.
Now, a new technology is helping surgeons navigate around the vital nerve bundles. The CaverMap surgical aid can assist the surgeon in locating and mapping the cavernosal nerves around the prostate that control a man's erectile function. By knowing where the nerves are, the surgeon is better able to decide where to cut in order to keep the nerves intact. In this way the key nerves which take messages from the brain to the penis during male arousal can be safeguarded. Further, at the end of the operation CaverMap can be used to confirm that the nerves have indeed not been damaged.
The CaverMap has been evaluated over the past four years at several centres. Of 61 men who had normal erectile function before surgery, 92% continued to have erections a full year after surgery. This represents a dramatic improvement over previous unaided results.
CaverMap is now being used and highly spoken of by surgeons in this country.
How does it work? The idea is very simple. An electrical signal is applied and one sees whether the key organ twitches or not. More scientifically, the nerves are stimulated via a probe with a tip as small as 2mm in width. Attached to the penis is an ultra sensitive strain gauge which can detect very slight tumescence. The whole is attached to a box of electronics which provide audible and visible response indications.
More information can be obtained from the UroMed Corporation at www.uromed.com.