Extraperitoneal Single Port vs Transperitoneal Multiport Robot assisted radical prostatectomy in frail patients: A propensity score matched comparative analysis

Purpose: The rise of frail patients in the worldwide population poses a challenge in the prostate cancer surgical care. In this light, we aimed to compare perioperative and early surgical outcomes of Extraperitoneal Single Port (SP)- vs Transperitoneal Multiport (MP) - Robot Assisted Radical Prostatectomy (RALP) in different frailty settings.

Materials and methods: Clinical and surgical data of all consecutive patients treated with RALP between March 2014 and October 2023 were gathered. Propensity score matching was performed to adjust for potential baseline pre-operative confounders. The 5-miFI score was calculated for each patient and then five risk categories were identified (5-mFI score = 0, 1,2,3 and ≥ 4).

Results: A total of 549 patients were assessed in the unmatched analysis. After the propensity score, 126 patients for each treatment group were matched. When stratified in different frailty-groups, 30-days postoperative complications occurred significantly more frequently in case of 5-mFI score=3 and >4 (p = 0.001). Moreover, higher rate of both overall (52 vs 23 %, p = 0.01) and major (19.6 vs 8.2 %, p = 0.02) postoperative complications was found in these patients in case of transperitoneal MP RARP as compared to the extraperitoneal SP procedures. Exploring predictors of postoperative early complications in patients with 5-mFI score = 3 and 4, extraperitoneal SP robotic approach showed a significant protective role on both overall (OR 0.21, p = 0.001) and major (OR 0.33, p = 0.001) complications occurrence.

Conclusions: In a matched cohort of patients treated with Robot Assisted Radical Prostatectomy, extraperitoneal Single Port approach significantly reduced the overall and major early complications rate in frail patients.