Introduction and Objectives
Open radical cystectomy is the gold standard treatment for nonmetastatic muscle invasive bladder cancer. There is ongoing increasement in interest with laparoscopic approach at selected centers worldwide. We report our preliminary results of this approach in 11 patients.
Material and Methods
From January 2008 to May 2009, 7 men and 4 women underwent laparoscopic assisted cystoprostatectomies or cystectomies for transitional cell carcinoma in 10 cases and adenocarcinoma of the bladder in 1 case. We report here our initial results.
Results
The mean operative time was 325 min, the mean blood loss 415 ml and the transfusion rate 9%. All procedures were completed laparoscopically without conversion to an open technique. We experienced 1 bowel fistula with no other complications during or after the operation. The pathology reports revealed pT1 stage (2002 TNM staging) in 2 cases, pT2 in 5 cases and pT3 in 4 cases. All the surgical margins were free of tumor invasion. Extended lymphadenectomy detected lymph node metastasis in 3 patients.
Conclusions
Laparoscopic assisted cystectomy is feasible and safe surgical technique. Long term follow up is needed to determine the oncologic outcome.
Article info
Identification
Copyright
© 2009 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
