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EAU 2011 - A multi-institutional study of 3794 patients undergoing robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy shows the learning curve is not as short as previously thought - Session Highlights

VIENNA, AUSTRIA (UroToday.com) - This group of investigators sought to define the learning curve for robotic assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP) with regards to positive surgical margin (PSM) rate and operative time (OT). The study was a retrospective cohort study of 3,794 patients who underwent RALP between 2003 and 2009 by three surgeons from three centers (UPenn, Karolinska, Cornell). Mean overall PSM rates and mean overall OT was calculated for all three surgeons at intervals of 50 RALPs per surgeon, and learning curves for these means were determined.

 

The learning curve for PSM rates for all patients demonstrated improvements that continued with greater surgeon experience. Over 1,600 cases were required to get a PSM rate <10%. When only pT3 patients were evaluated, the learning curve started to plateau after 1000-1500 cases. Mean OT reached a plateau after 750 cases, although with further surgical experience the OTs began to increase again.

 

Presented by Prasanna Sooriakumaran, MD, PhD, et al. at the 26th Annual European Association of Urology (EAU) Congress - March 18 - 21, 2011 - Austria Centre Vienna, Vienna, Austria


 

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the UroToday.com Contributing Medical Editor and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of the European Association of Urology (EAU)


 



View EAU 2011 Annual Meeting Coverage