Small bowel obstruction and abdominal pain after robotic versus open radical prostatectomy

Objective The aim of this study was to examine whether intraperitoneal robot-assisted surgery leads to small bowel obstruction (SBO), possibly caused by the formation of intra-abdominal adhesions. Materials and methods In total, 7256 men treated by intraperitoneal robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) and 9787 men treated by retropubic radical prostatectomy (RRP) in 2005-2012 were identified in the Prostate Cancer data Base Sweden (PCBaSe).

Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to calculate the risk of readmission for SBO, SBO-related surgery and admissions due to abdominal pain up to 5 years postoperatively. Results During the first postoperative year, the risk of readmission for SBO was higher after RARP than after RRP [hazard ratio (HR) 1.92, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.14-3.25] but after 5 years there was no significant difference (HR 1.28, 95% CI 0.86-1.91), and there was no difference in the risk of SBO surgery during any period. The risk of admission for abdominal pain was significantly increased after RARP during the first year (HR 2.24, 95% CI 1.50-3.33) but not after 5 years (HR 1.23, 95% CI 0.92-1.63). Conclusion Intraperitoneal RARP had an increased risk of SBO and abdominal pain in the short term during the first year, but not in the long term, compared to RRP.

Scandinavian journal of urology. 2016 Mar 03 [Epub ahead of print]

Karl-Johan Lundström, Yasin Folkvaljon, Stacy Loeb, Anna Bill Axelson, Pär Stattin, Pär Nordin

a Department of Surgical and Perioperative Sciences, Urology and Andrology , Umeå University , Umeå , Sweden ;, b Regional Cancer Centre , Uppsala , Sweden ;, c Department of Urology and Population Health, and the Laura & Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center , New York University and Manhattan Veterans Affairs Medical Center , New York , NY , USA ;, d Department of Surgical Sciences , Uppsala University , Uppsala , Sweden., a Department of Surgical and Perioperative Sciences, Urology and Andrology , Umeå University , Umeå , Sweden ;, a Department of Surgical and Perioperative Sciences, Urology and Andrology , Umeå University , Umeå , Sweden ;