Is robot-assisted radical prostatectomy safer than other radical prostatectomy techniques?

摘要

Agarwal et al. [1] present a standardised evaluation of the complications of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) in >3000 patients at a single tertiary-care centre. The data are impressive by sheer patient numbers, the detailed data analysis with a median postoperative follow-up of 24.2 mo, and the obviously low rate of complications. The authors clearly document several findings. Surgeon experience and a high patient volume at the institution reduce complication rates. Two surgeons well beyond their learning curve did 82.5% of the procedures, and a robust mentorship program assisted the other three surgeons. This is perhaps best reflected by an overall transfusion rate of 2.1%, which is almost half that of smaller contemporary series [2,3].