Côme Tholomier

Error reporting from the da Vinci surgical system in robotic surgery: A Canadian multispecialty experience at a single academic centre

INTRODUCTION The goal of the study is to evaluate and report on the third-generation da Vinci surgical (Si) system malfunctions. METHODS A total of 1228 robotic surgeries were performed between January 2012 and December 2015 at our academic centre. All cases were performed by using a single, dual console, four-arm, da Vinci Si robot system. The three specialties included urology, gynecology, and thoracic surgery. Studied outcomes included the robotic surgical error types, immediate consequences, and operative side effects. Error rate trend with time was also examined. RESULTS Overall robotic malfunctions were documented on the da Vinci Si systems event log in 4.97% (61/1228) of the cases. The most common error was related to pressure sensors in the robotic arms indicating out of limit output. This recoverable fault was noted in 2.04% (25/1228) of cases. Other errors included unrecoverable electronic communication-related in 1.06% (13/1228) of cases, failed encoder error in 0.57% (7/1228), illuminator-related in 0.33% (4/1228), faulty switch in 0.24% (3/1228), battery-related failures in 0.24% (3/1228), and software/hardware error in 0.08% (1/1228) of cases. Surgical delay was reported only in one patient. No conversion to either open or laparoscopic occurred secondary to robotic malfunctions. In 2015, the incidence of robotic error rose to 1.71% (21/1228) from 0.81% (10/1228) in 2014. CONCLUSIONS Robotic malfunction is not infrequent in the current era of robotic surgery in various surgical subspecialties, but rarely consequential. Their seldom occurrence does not seem to affect patient safety or surgical outcome.

Photoselective vaporization of the prostate with the 180-W XPSGreenlight laser: Five-year experience of safety, efficiency, and functional outcomes

INTRODUCTION Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) is still considered the gold standard surgical treatment for symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). However, photoselective vaporization of the prostate (PVP) has gained widespread global acceptance in national guidelines as a safe and effective alternative option. Nevertheless, further evidence is required to assess the durability of Greenlight PVP. Herein, we report our five years of PVP experience with the Greenlight 180W XPS laser system. METHODS A retrospective analysis was conducted on a prospectively gathered database of 370 consecutively included patients who underwent PVP using Greenlight XPS-180 W laser system (Boston Scientific, Boston, MA, U.S.) performed by a single experienced laser surgeon between 2011 and 2016. Preoperative characteristics, intervention parameters, postoperative functional, uroflowmetry outcomes, and complications were collected. Outcomes are reported over a period of five years. RESULTS Mean age was 68 years, with a mean prostate volume of 78.8 cc (95% confidence interval [CI] 70.9-78.7]). The mean followup was 59.4 months (55.4-63.5). Mean energy, operative time, and energy/cc were 270.2 kJ (255.2-285.2), 62.7 minutes (59.6-65.7), and 3.7 kJ/cc (3.6-3.9), respectively. Compared to preoperative values, International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), maximum flow rate (Qmax), and post-void residual (PVR) parameters were significantly improved and sustained over the five postoperative years. Of note, only 66 patients (out of 370) had a complete five-year followup. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) reached nadir at one year, with a drop of 67% from the mean preoperative value of 6.2 ng/mL. Mean IPSS nadir was reached at three years, with a drop of 80.4% (-21.1 points). Similarly, mean quality of life (QoL) score dropped by 82.8% after three years (preoperative mean of 4.7). With respect to mean Qmax, there was an increase by 72.7% (+14.7 mL/s) at one year, reaching the value of 19.9 mL/s. Moreover, mean PVR was 32.8 mL at four years compared to 345 mL preoperatively. At five years followup, PSA, IPSS, QoL, and PVR dropped by 59.7% (3.7 ng/mL), 75.2% (19.7 points), 78.72% (3.7 points), and 84.4% (291.3 mL), respectively. Qmax increased by 12.9 mL/s. Clavien complication rates were low, with bladder neck stenosis observed in seven (1.6%) men. During the five-year followup, only four patients (1%) required BPH surgical re-intervention. CONCLUSIONS This is the first long-term reporting of Greenlight XPS-180W laser system. In experienced hands, the observed outcomes appear to demonstrate that Greenlight XPS-180 W laser system is safe, efficacious, and durable for the treatment of bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) secondary to BPH.

Prostate cancer biochemical recurrence after salvage radiotherapy: first look into risk stratification and prognosis

As salvage radiation therapy (SRT) is commonly offered as a treatment option to select patients with prostate cancer who have biochemical recurrence (BCR) after radical prostatectomy (RP), the uro-oncology community is in strong need of tangible data regarding patients who have a ‘second’ BCR after such therapy. The multi-institution team led by Tumati and Jackson [1] provides new insight into the outcomes of second biochemical failures, offering a novel risk stratification system with the help of prognostic factors. Their analysis of 286 patients offers retrospective prognostic clues that could guide further work trying to better understand the natural history and management of such patients.

MP02-09 EVALUATION OF SURGICAL OUTCOMES WITH PHOTOSELECTIVE GREENLIGHT XPS LASER VAPORIZATION OF THE PROSTATE IN HIGH MEDICAL RISK MEN WITH BENIGN PROSTATIC ENLARGEMENT: A MULTICENTER STUDY

underexplored. Herein, we describe outcomes of HoLEP in a select cohort of patients with significant LUTS, and known low risk PCa. METHODS: Data were collected retrospectively on patients undergoing HoLEP by a single surgeon. A select group of well informed patients with large symptomatic glands and low risk cancer were carefully counseled that HoLEP was an option to address the obstructive BPH, would unpredictably remove the cancer (all, part, or none), emphasizing they were not undergoing a cancer operation, and that HoLEP would be followed by continued surveillance. Preand postoperative clinical factors, and operative and hospital stay data were collected. RESULTS: In total, 7 men were included. All men had Gleason 3+3 cancer in at most 20% of at most 3 cores on biopsy. Other preop characteristics are described in Table 1. Mean tissue removed was 48.8g. No patients required transfusion or reoperation. Median length of hospital stay was 24.5 hours; median length of catheterization was 19 hours. On final pathology, 3 of 7 of patients had cancer in the specimen, all of which were Gleason 3+3. At f/u, all flow rates improved, PVR improved or remained low, and PSA significantly decreased in all patients (Table 1). No patient have developed stricture, bladder neck contracture, incontinence, or required reoperation. Median f/u time was 4 months (range 4-24 months). Notably, 2 patients had prostate MRI within 2 years of HoLEP, neither of which showed suspicion for PCa. CONCLUSIONS: We have offered HoLEP judiciously to select patients on surveillance for low risk PCa and significant symptomatic BPH, a complex and increasingly common scenario, with acceptable short term outcomes. Further investigations into long-term cancerspecific outcomes, as well as strategies for continued surveillance, will be crucial in order to further evaluate and refine this new approach.

Vesicourethral Anastomosis: Putting It Back Together

Robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) has progressively gained popularity amongst urologists and is now the dominant surgical approach for localized prostate cancer. Despite the advantages of the da Vinci surgical system (high 3-D definition, magnified vision, movement scaling, tremor filtration, and wristed instruments with 7-degrees of freedom the watertight vesicourethral anastomosis (VUA) remains one of the challenging aspects of this procedure, particularly in the early learning curve.