Chennai Stone Clinic
LAPARASCOPIC UROLOGY

LAPARASCOPIC CYSTECTOMY/RADICAL

This procedure is used to treat

The advantages are multiple and include the following:

  • Invasive bladder carcinoma
  • Ongoing incontinence due to paraplegia, where catheterisation results in infection and ongoing leakage
  • Refractory complications in a defunctionalized bladder, where urinary diversion is already established

Laparoscopic cystectomy involves removing the bladder using small cuts (also known as 'keyhole surgery'). In women, the bladder is removed through the wall of the vagina. In men, the bladder is removed with the prostate gland, through a small cut in the wall of the abdomen. The tubes that carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder (the ureters) may then be connected to a bag worn outside the body, or parts of the bowel can be used to make an artificial bladder which is drained by a connection to the abdomen wall or to the tube that carries urine out of the body (the urethra).

Laparoscopic radical cystectomy is an emerging technique. It has been proposed as an alternative to open radical cystectomy, which is the gold standard treatment of muscle-invasive or high-risk superficial bladder cancer. The experience in laparoscopic radical cystectomy reported in peer-reviewed journals account for approximately 100 cases, with a median longest follow-up of 11.5 months. Safety of the technique and cancer control need to be confirmed by a larger cohort of patients; however, after an initial analysis, it seems to be equivalent to open radical cystectomy. Equivalent does not mean better. Long-term results will determine if supposed benefits of laparoscopy overweigh the true increment of cost and time.