Assessment of the Impact of Pentafecta Parameters Affecting the Quality of Life of Patients Undergoing Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 4;20(2):944. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20020944.

Abstract

Prostate cancer is being detected in increasingly younger men. These patients expect to preserve their current quality of life and quickly recover after treatment. Medical technology and surgical techniques are advancing along with the growing expectations of patients. In addition, the universal method of assessing the quality of outcomes after operations is constantly being researched. As of today, biochemical remission alone, after radical prostatectomy, is insufficient for the patient. Therefore, multi-parametric evaluation methods are being developed, such as trifecta, which assesses biochemical remission, continence, and erectile function. The improvement over the trifecta is the pentafecta, which additionally evaluates postoperative complications and infiltration of surgical margins. Our study was conducted within a group of patients who were surgically treated for prostate cancer in 2017 at the Clinic of Urology and Urological Oncology of the Pomeranian Medical University. We recruited 237 men for the study. From that group, 131 men met the criteria to be included in the analysis. Maintaining continence (87.78%) is the easiest pentafecta parameter to obtain and will have the greatest impact on quality of life in the future. Maintaining biochemical remission (82.44%) is the second most important aspect for the patient. Retaining erectile function is the most difficult pentafecta parameter to obtain (29.01%) while having little impact on the quality of life. Negative surgical margins (66.41%) showed a negligible impact on the quality of life. The occurrence of complications (32.07%) has a negative impact on the quality of life of patients, but only during the treatment of complications.

Keywords: laparoscopy; pentafecta; prostate cancer; quality of life.

MeSH terms

  • Erectile Dysfunction* / etiology
  • Humans
  • Laparoscopy* / adverse effects
  • Laparoscopy* / methods
  • Male
  • Prostatectomy / adverse effects
  • Prostatic Neoplasms* / etiology
  • Prostatic Neoplasms* / surgery
  • Quality of Life
  • Treatment Outcome

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.