Does a surgeon's annual radical prostatectomy volume predict the risk of positive surgical margins and urinary incontinence at one-year follow-up? Findings from a prospective national study.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of positive surgical margins (PSM) and urinary incontinence (UI) in relation to surgeons' annual radical prostatectomy (RP) volume.

Material And Methods: This national study prospectively assessed 521 preoperatively continent patients with prostate cancer (PCa), scheduled for RP by surgeons with high (>50), medium (20-50) or low annual volume (<20) at 14 urological departments in Norway. Patients responded to UI questions from the Expanded Composite prostate cancer index (EPIC-50) before and 1 year after RP.