Complications, Urinary Continence, and Oncologic Outcomes of Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy: Single-Surgeon Experience for the First 100 Cases

Objective . The aim of the present study was to evaluate initial learning curves of laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP) with regard to complications, urinary continence, and oncologic outcome. Materials and Methods . We retrospectively reviewed 100 consecutive patients with clinically localized prostate cancer. All 100 patients underwent LRP performed by the same urologist at one institution. Results : Mean operating time (208.4 ± 48.6 min), estimated blood loss (495.8 ± 436.5 mL), allogeneic blood transfusion rate (0%), and intraoperative complications diminished with surgical experience. Positive margin rate varied greatly among pathological stage (positive margin rates: pT2 = 20.5%; pT3 = 63.0%). A trend towards reduction of positive surgical margins in pT2 cases was apparent with increasing experience. Intraoperative and early complications occurred in 2.0% of patients. In all patients, 85.9% used none or no more than one pad per 24 h at 6 months postoperatively. Prostate-specific antigen recurrence was seen in only 2 patients. Conclusions . In the present series of 100 patients, our retrospective evaluation confirms that LRP provides satisfactory results.