Search

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess whether age >=75 years impairs surgical, functional, and oncological outcomes after robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). Materials and methods: Patients with prostate cancer (PCa) were stratified in >=75(n 1/4 669) vs. =75 vs., Finanziert durch den Open-Access-Publikationsfonds der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster (WWU Münster).

Over the last 15 years, laparoscopic procedures in urology have become a widely used approach for many surgical indications9. In many specialized centers, laparoscopy is an integral part of daily practice68. The well-known difficult learning curve in laparoscopic procedures has lead to the developments of alternatives that shorten the learning curve and improve surgical outcomes. In kidney surgery, the popularity of hand-assisted nephrectomy, especially in the USA, is a good example for a pragmatic approach to improve the learning process31. Since the introduction of telemanipulatory devices in the beginning of the last decade, robot-assisted procedures for many indications have become the preferred approach of many urologists. Notably, in complex reconstructive and advanced ablative surgical procedures, the robot offers advances to the surgeon providing 3D vision and seven degrees of freedom of motion in the hand-wristed instruments, scaling of motion, and reducing of tremor48.