Short‐term patient reported health‐related quality of life ( HRQL ) outcomes after robot‐assisted radical cystectomy ( RARC )

Objective To determine short‐term health‐related quality of life ( HRQL ) outcomes after robot‐assisted radical cystectomy ( RARC ) using the B ladder C ancer I ndex ( BCI ) and E uropean O rganisation for R esearch and T reatment of C ancer ( EORTC ) B ody I mage S cale ( BIS ).Patients and Methods All patients undergoing RARC were enrolled in a quality assurance database. The patients completed two validated questionnaires, BCI and BIS , preoperatively and at standardised postoperative intervals. The primary outcome measure was difference in interval and baseline BCI and BIS scores. Complications were identified and classified by C lavien grade.Results In all, 43 patients completed pre‐ and postoperative questionnaires There was a decline in the urinary domain at 0–1 month after RARC ( P  = 0.006), but this returned to baseline by 1–2 months. There was a decline in the bowel domain at 0–1 month ( P  < 0.001) and 1–2 months ( P  = 0.024) after RARC , but this returned to baseline by 2–4 months. The decline in BCI scores was greatest for the sexual function domain, but this returned to baseline by 16–24 months after RARC . Body image perception using BIS showed no significant change after RARC except at the 4–10 months period ( P  = 0.018).Conclusions Based on BCI and BIS scores HRQL outcomes after RARC show recovery of urinary and bowel domains ≤6 months. Longer follow‐up with a larger cohort of patients will help refine HRQL outcomes.