Surgical benchmarks, mid-term oncological outcomes, and impact of surgical team composition on simultaneous enbloc robot-assisted radical cystectomy and nephroureterectomy.

BACKGROUND: Simultaneous urothelial cancer manifestation in the lower and upper urinary tract affects approximately 2% of patients. Data on the surgical benchmarks and mid-term oncological outcomes of enbloc robot-assisted radical cystectomy and nephro-ureterectomy are scarce. METHODS: After written informed consent was obtained, we prospectively enrolled consecutive patients undergoing enbloc radical cystectomy and nephro-ureterectomy with robotic assistance from the DaVinci Si-HD® system in a prospective institutional database and collected surgical benchmarks and oncological outcomes. Furthermore, as one console surgeon conducted all the procedures, whereas the team providing bedside assistance was composed ad hoc, we assessed the impact of this approach on the operative duration. RESULTS: Nineteen patients (9 women), with a mean age of 73 (SD: 7.5) years, underwent simultaneous enbloc robot-assisted radical cystectomy and nephro-ureterectomy. There were no cases of conversion to open surgery. In the postoperative period, we registered 2 Clavien-Dindo class 2 complications (transfusions) and 1 Clavien-Dindo class 3b complication (port hernia). After a median follow-up of 23 months, there were 3 cases of mortality and 1 case of metachronous urothelial cancer (contralateral kidney).The total operative duration did not decrease with increasing experience (r = 0.174, p = 0.534). In contrast, there was a significant, inverse, strong correlation between the console time relative to the total operative duration and the number of conducted procedures after adjusting for the degree of adhesions and the type of urinary diversion(r = -0.593, p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that en bloc simultaneous robot-assisted radical cystectomy and nephro-ureterectomy can be safely conducted with satisfactory mid-term oncological outcomes. With increasing experience, improved performance was detectable for the console surgeon but not in terms of the total operative duration. Simulation training of all team members for highly complex procedures might be a suitable approach for improving team performance. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Not applicable. Video Abstract.

Cost-effectiveness of robot-assisted partial nephrectomy for the prevention of perioperative complications.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) and secondarily of laparoscopic PN (LPN) compared to the open procedure. METHODS: Model-based cost-effectiveness analysis: The model was structured as decision tree. The model was populated with published data. We measured intraoperative, postoperative complications, and inhospital deaths. We expressed costs in US dollars ($).The reference analysis calculated the mean cost and the mean number of each endpoint over 5000 iterations using a second-order Monte Carlo simulation. We conducted extensive sensitivity analyses. RESULTS: The mean inhospital costs were $13,186 for RAPN, $10,782 for LPN, and $12,539 for open partial nephrectomy (OPN), respectively. The incremental cost to prevent an inhospital event amounted to $5005 for RAPN compared to OPN. Lower RENAL scores were associated with lower incremental cost per avoided complications. Under assumption of 55 % higher costs in patients with complications, RAPN dominated OPN. LPN dominated OPN. We are aware of the following limitations: First, cost data for patients with and without complications were not available and we assumed the median cost for all cases, i.e., the analysis overestimated the cost associated with RAPN; second, we focused on inhospital estimates and did not apply a societal perspective. CONCLUSIONS: RAPN appears to be a cost-effective mean to avoid inhospital complications; however, these results might not apply to low-volume hospitals or to other health care systems.

Simultaneous en-bloc robot-assisted radical cystectomy and nephro-ureterectomy: technique description, outcomes, and literature summary.

The objectives of this study are to describe the surgical technique for simultaneous en-bloc robot-assisted radical cystectomy and nephro-ureterectomy, to report its surgical bench marks, and finally, to summarize the current evidence on the procedure. After written informed consent, we prospectively enrolled consecutive patients undergoing simultaneous en-bloc robot-assisted radical cystectomy and nephro-ureterectomy in a prospective institutional database. We performed all procedures with robotic assistance from the DaVinci Si-HD®, a four-arm robotic system. Endpoints included surgery duration, estimated intra-operative blood loss, resection margins, intra-, and post-operative complications. Furthermore, we describe oncological outcome at follow-up. We conducted six (54.4 %) right-sided and five (45.5 %) left-sided nephro-ureterectomies. Urinary diversion consisted in nine (81.2 %) ureterocutaneostomies and in two (18.8 %) ileum conduits. The median surgery duration was 287 min [interquartile range (Q1-Q3) 253-328], thereof 196-min console time (Q1-Q3 158-230). The median-estimated blood loss was 235 mL (Q1-Q3 200-262). We did not register any intra-operative complications or conversions to open surgery. Post-operatively, each one patient suffered a Clavien-Dindo grade 1 (paralytic ileus), grade 2 (blood transfusion), and grade 3 complication (port hernia). After a median follow-up of 7 months (Q1-Q3 4-25), we registered one recurrence, a metachronous transitional cell cancer of the contralateral kidney 24 months after the initial procedure. En-bloc robot-assisted radical cystectomy and nephro-ureterectomy was associated with limited procedure duration, minor blood loss and satisfying intra- and post-operative outcomes.