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RARP linked to better functional outcomes than LRP
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Robot-assisted radical prostatectomy yielded higher rates of post-operative continence and potency than laparoscopic radical prostatectomy in a cohort of men with organ-confined prostate cancer, according to study results.
Researchers in Italy conducted the study to compare robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) with laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP) with regard to functional, perioperative and oncologic outcomes in 120 patients with this disease. Changes in continence at the 3-month mark served as the primary endpoint.
Patients randomly assigned patients to one of the two procedures. There were 60 patients in each arm, and demographic data were similar between the two study arms.
Researchers measured PSA and evaluated continence upon catheter removal and 48 hours later. They assessed continence and potency at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months.
Perioperative and pathologic results, as well as complication rates and PSA, were similar in both groups.
A higher rate of continence was observed in the RARP arm at every time point. At 3 months, RARP was linked to a continence rate of 80%, compared with 61.6% for LRP (P=.044). At 1 year, the difference was 95% vs. 83.3% in favor of RARP (P=.042).
Among patients who were potent before the operation who were treated with nerve-sparing techniques, erection recovery was 80% among those assigned to RARP and 54.2% among those assigned to LRP (P=.020).
“RARP provided better functional results in terms of the recovery of continence and potency,” the researchers concluded.
Additional studies are needed to confirm the results, they wrote.
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