San Diego, CA USA (UroToday.com) Several interesting posters were presented in the Surgical Technology and Simulation session on Saturday morning. We will highlight two of them. The first paper addressed the issue of length of stay for all types of robotic renal surgery. Utilizing a clinical pathway meant for robotic prostatectomies that was subsequently applied to all types of robotic renal surgery and the effect on overnight stay was assessed by Dr. Ronney Abaza’s group.
Ninety-six percent of their patients were discharged by postoperative day 1 with a mean length of stay of 1.1 days. Only five patients or less than 1% were readmitted with an additional four patients seen in the emergency department within 7 days of surgery. The 30-day readmission rate was however higher at 2.8% but still low.
The other interesting poster was a multi-institutional study regarding the approach to retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RPLND). Over a 15-year time period they compared 69 robot-assisted to 48 open RPLNDs that were conducted in the primary setting for testicular cancer. Characteristics were similar between the two groups and however the robotic group showed better outcomes with respect to less blood loss, and post-operative recovery and pain. Operative times were similar between the groups (301 vs 289 mins). Overall complication rate was not different between the two groups. In terms of oncological control, number of lymph nodes removed and recurrence rates were similar between the groups. Studies such as this are making a push towards the minimally invasive approach.
Written By: Kamaljot Kaler, MD, FRCSC; Fellow, Department of Urology, University of California, Irvine at the 2016 AUA Annual Meeting - May 6 - 10, 2016 – San Diego, California, USA