Objective: To investigate the impact of obesity on the performance and functional outcome of endoscopic extraperitoneal radical prostatectomy (EERPE).
Patients and methods: We retrospectively examined 500 patients treated with EERPE; they were categorized into three groups according to the World Health Organization classification of obesity: normal weight (body mass index, BMI, <25.0 kg/m(2)), overweight (25.0-29.9 kg/m(2)) and obese (30.0 kg/m(2)). The database of our institution was reviewed and perioperative data evaluated. The functional data were collected through questionnaires before and after EERPE and analysed statistically.
Results: The age, prostate size and preoperative PSA level were similar in all three groups. The mean (sd) BMI was 27 (3.3) kg/m(2), with 26.8%, 56.6% and 16.6% of the patients classed as normal, overweight and obese, respectively. A pelvic lymph node dissection and nerve-sparing was done in 218 and 123 patients, respectively. There was no statistically significance difference in the number of patients in each group who had previous procedures. Obese patients had a significantly higher American Society of Anesthesiologists score. The mean operative duration for all patients was 149 min; there was a statistically significant difference in duration among the three groups, with EERPE or nerve-sparing EERPE requiring a mean of 20 min more in obese patients. There was no conversion to open surgery. The estimated mean blood loss was 200 mL; four patients, none of them in the obese group, received a blood transfusion. At 3 months after EERPE there was a trend to worse continence in obese patients, but it was not statistically significant, and was not apparent at 6 months. There was no difference in transfusion rate and duration of catheterization.
Conclusion: EERPE seems to be a feasible and reproducible surgical technique in obese patients, although the operation takes longer.