PURPOSE:
To assess comparative results of robot-assisted radical laparoscopic prostatectomy (RARP) performed by surgeons without any experience in laparoscopic prostatectomy and the open procedure performed by surgeons with large experience.
METHODS:
We analyzed 84 patients (50 subjected to robotic surgery) from June 2012 to September 2013. Data were prospectively collected in a customized database. Two surgeons carried out all the RARP cases. These two surgeons and six more performed the open cases. The perioperative outcomes between the two groups were analyzed with a minimum followup of 12 months.
RESULTS:
The corporal mass index (BMI) was higher in the open group (p=0.001). There was more operatve time, less hospitalization and blood loss, better trifecta and pentafecta and earlier continence (p=0.045) in the robotic group (p=0.001). There was no difference in positive surgical margins but with greater extraprostatic extension in the open group (p=0.002).
CONCLUSIONS:
Robot-assisted radical prostatectomy is a safe procedure even in the hands of surgeons with no previous experience. Besides this, better operative outcomes can be reached with this modern approach.
Prostate Neoplasms; Robotics; Prostatectomy; Urinary Incontinence; Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological