Dr. Joseph Song discusses climacturia and prostate cancer

In this video, Joseph Song, MD, discusses an underappreciated aspect of prostate cancer. Song is a urologist with Georgia Urology.

Transcription:

What aspects of prostate cancer are underappreciated/underreported?

It's tough to say what's underappreciated because there's so much out there now. I think multiple aspects are talked about by patients, especially when they talk to a friend or family member who's gone through it. But I think, especially for prostate cancer, some of the sexual side effects, it's tough to talk about that when you're talking to your uncle or your brother who has it. I think it can be very hard for patients to share that with friends and family. Specifically, climacturia is something that a lot of patients, even the ones we've done a lot of their homework, when I discuss that as a potential side effect, they say, "Oh my gosh, that can happen?" And we have to go through quite a lot of discussion and quite a lot of counseling, so that their partners and spouses don't think that this is something that's going to hurt them or is that an issue, because it's so common for patients to have some degree of climacturia after prostatectomy. And as we get better and better at nerve sparing, these patients are able to still achieve erections, but they're seeing this significant change in the way that their sexuality functions, and it can be pretty off putting.

This transcription was edited for clarity.