One would think minimally invasive prostatectomy would have fewer side effects – in the postop period they do, but not in the long term…
JAMA. 2009 Oct 14;302(14):1557-64.
Comparative effectiveness of minimally invasive vs open radical prostatectomy.
Hu JC, Gu X, Lipsitz SR, Barry MJ, D’Amico AV, Weinberg AC, Keating NL.
free article here
The laparoscopic was with or without computer assistance – 1,938 caseds
Other prostatectomy was the open retropubic radical prostatectomy – 6,899 cases
Incontinence – 15.9% with laparoscopic versus 12.2% open
Erectile dysfunction – 26.8% laparoscopic verus 19.2% open
Comment – To be fair, there is a 150 to 250 case learning curve with these procedures so those with much experience might have better results. However, from the looks of it, there is little advantage to the laparoscopic procedure longterm.
any comments?