Detrusorrhaphy during Robot-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy: Early Recovery of Urinary Continence and Surgical Technique

Robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) has largely replaced open radical prostatectomy as the standard surgical treatment for prostate cancer. However, postoperative urinary incontinence still persists and has a significant impact on quality of life. We report the superior results of the detrusorrhaphy technique during RARP that helps achieve early continence. Our prospective study involved 95 consecutive patients who underwent RARP between March 2015 and May 2017; fifty patients underwent RARP using the new detrusorrhaphy technique (group 1) and 45 underwent standard RARP (group 2). The postoperative oncological and functional outcomes were compared between the two groups. The postoperative continence was assessed at 0 day, 1 week, 4 weeks, 8-12 weeks, and 6 months after catheter removal. Continence was defined as the use of no pad over a 24 h period. Mean operative time in groups 1 and 2 were 250 and 220 min, respectively. Intraoperative complications were not encountered in any patient. The continence rates after catheter removal in groups 1 and 2 were 68% and 0% at 0 day, 78% and 17.8% at 1 week, 86% and 64.4% at 4 weeks, 92% and 73.3% at 8-12 weeks, and 100% and 91.1% at 6 months, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, the nerve sparing technique, D'Amico risk groups, and prostate volume were involved in the early recovery of urinary continence. The detrusorrhaphy technique is simple, safe, and feasible, which helped achieve earlier continence. It showed significantly better outcomes than those achieved with the standard RARP technique in terms of urinary incontinence. Nevertheless, our findings need to be validated in further studies.