Robot-assisted intracorporeal orthotopic bladder substitution after radical cystectomy: perioperative morbidity and oncological outcomes – a single-institution experience

Objective: To report a single-institution experience with totally intracorporeal neobladder urinary diversion (UD) after robot-assisted laparoscopic radical cystectomy (RARC). Patients and methods: A total of 158 patients underwent totally intracorporeal neobladder UD after RARC between 2003 and 2016. Patient demographics, intraoperative and pathological data, 30- and 90-day perioperative mortality and complications were recorded. Complications were classified according to the modified Clavien–Dindo classification. The 5-year overall (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) rates were estimated by Kaplan–Meier plots. Results: Most of the patients were male (84%) and had clinical T Stage ≤2 (87%). The mean operation time was 359 (SD ±98) min, with a median (range) estimated blood loss of 300 (50–2200) mL. Most of the men (86%) received a nerve-sparing procedure and 38% of the females an organ-sparing approach. A lymph node dissection was performed in 156 (99%) patients, with a median (range) yield of 23 (7–48) nodes. Conversion to open surgery occurred in five patients (3%). We recorded negative margins in 156 patients (99%). The median (range) follow-up was 34 (1–170) months, with 30- and 90-day mortality rates of 0%. Clavien–Dindo Grade III–IV complications occurred in 29 of 158 (18%) patients at 30-days and in eight of 158 (5%) between 30–90 days, resulting into a 90-day overall high-grade complication rate of 23%. The unadjusted estimated 5-years recurrence-free survival, CSS and OS rates were 70%, 72%, and 71%, respectively. Conclusion: In our present series the complication and oncological results were similar to open RC series, suggesting that RARC followed by totally intracorporeal neobladder UD is a safe and feasible alternative.