Purpose: To report short- and medium-term oncological and functional outcomes of the first robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical cystectomy (RARC) series from the UK.
Materials and methods: Thirty patients underwent RARC between 2004 and 2007 at our unit. We report oncological and functional outcomes of this procedure in 20 patients (17 ileal conduit and three Studer Pouches), who have completed at least 6 months of follow up.
Results: There were 17 men and three women, median age 66 years (range 38-77 years). Median operating time was 330 min (range 295-510 min), and median blood loss 150 ml (range 100-1150 ml). There were two major complications (10%); a port site bleed and a rectal injury. The median follow up of this cohort is 23 months (range 7-44 months). One patient died of distant metastases at 8 months, and another developed a right ureteric tumour at 7 months. None of the patients had local pelvic or port site recurrence. The overall and disease-free survival are 95% and 90% respectively. Functional complications included a neovesico-urethral stricture at 3 months, a left upper ureteric stricture at 6 months and an incisional hernia at 12 months.
Conclusion: Robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical cystectomy is an emerging minimally invasive procedure which at short- to medium-term follow up, in our experience, is oncologically and functionally equivalent to open radical cystectomy.