Petros and colleagues presented data for 445 patients who had undergone robotic assisted partial nephrectomy at four institutions between 2006 and 2010. Patients were split into clinical T1a (n=372 patients, median tumor diameter 2.3 cm) and clinical T1b stages (n=83 patients, median tumor diameter 5 cm). Patients with T1b had longer ischemia time (24 vs. 17 mins.), longer operating time (194 vs. 180 mins.), higher blood loss (200 vs. 150 mls.) and higher rate of collecting system repair (72% vs. 52%) compared to patients with T1a tumors. All differences were statistically significant. There were no differences with regard to mean estimated glomerular filtration rate and complication rate. The authors concluded that robotic assisted partial nephrectomy is safe and feasible with differences between T1a and T1b tumors concerning operative parameters.
For the next few years, partial nephrectomy for tumors <7 cm will continue to be performed in an open manner in most cases. Apart from tumor diameter, other anatomical parameters (e.g. tumor location, exophytic versus endophytic growth) should not be underestimated when planning a partial nephrectomy.
Presented by Firas G. Petros, MD, et al. at the 26th Annual European Association of Urology (EAU) Congress - March 18 - 21, 2011 - Austria Centre Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Reported for UroToday by Christian Doehn, MD, PhD, Department of Urology, University of Lübeck Medical School, Lübeck Germany.
View EAU 2011 Annual Meeting Coverage
