Robotic radical cystectomy for bladder cancer: surgical and pathological outcomes in 100 consecutive cases

Purpose: Radical cystectomy remains the most effective treatment for patients with localized, invasive bladder cancer and recurrent noninvasive disease. Recently some surgeons have begun to describe outcomes associated with less invasive surgical approaches to this disease such as laparoscopic or robotic assisted techniques. We report our maturing experience with 100 consecutive cases of robotic assisted laparoscopic radical cystectomy with regard to perioperative results, pathological outcomes and surgical complications.

Materials and methods: A total of 100 consecutive patients (73 male and 27 female) underwent robotic radical cystectomy and urinary diversion at our institution from January 2006 to January 2009 for clinically localized bladder cancer. Outcome measures evaluated included operative variables, hospital recovery, pathological outcomes and complication rate.

Results: Mean age of this cohort was 65.5 years (range 33 to 86). Of the patients 61 underwent ileal conduit diversion, 38 received a neobladder and 1 had no urinary diversion (renal failure). Mean operating room time for all patients was 4.6 hours (median 4.3) and mean surgical blood loss was 271 ml (median 250). On surgical pathology 40% of the cases were pT1 or less disease, 27% were pT2, 13% were pT3/T4 disease and 20% were node positive. Mean number of lymph nodes removed was 19 (range 8 to 40). In no case was there a positive surgical margin. Mean days to flatus were 2.1, bowel movement 2.8 and discharge home 4.9. There were 41 postoperative complications in 36 patients with 8% having a major complication (Clavien grade 3 or higher) and 11% being readmitted within 30 days of surgery. At a mean followup of 21 months 15 patients had disease recurrence and 6 died of disease.

Conclusions: We report a relatively large and maturing experience with robotic radical cystectomy for the treatment of bladder cancer providing acceptable surgical and pathological outcomes. These results support continued efforts to refine the surgical management of high risk bladder cancer.