Hand-assisted laparoscopic radical cystoprostatectomy and urethrectomy with ileal conduit construction

Hand-assisted laparoscopy was first performed in the 1990s by inserting the surgeon's finger or hand through a small tight wound. Although leakage of gas from the incision initially limited the usefulness of the technique, the hand-assisted procedures have advanced extensively since the introduction of the hand-assisted laparoscopy port. Laparoscopic procedure has only rarely been applied to radical cystoprostatectomy. Favorable reports for laparoscopic radical prostatectomy encouraged us to attempt a cystoprostatectomy under hand-assisted laparoscopy.

The patient was a 70-year-old male with an invasive bladder tumor and no distant metastasis. Informed consent for undergoing hand-assisted laparoscopic radical cystoprostatectomy and ileal conduit construction was obtained.

The bladder was dissected free and extracted whole through the incision for the hand port. The bilateral ureters and a loop of small intestine were withdrawn through the same incision. An ileal segment was isolated and small intestine continuity was recovered. Each ureter was anastomosed to one extreme of the ileal segment that was then reintroduced into the abdomen. The stoma was constructed through the right side port without additional incision. No intraoperative complications were observed. Recuperation was unusually quick and painless, and few postoperative analgesics were needed.

Hand-assisted laparoscopic cystoprostatectomy and urinary diversion could provide the advantage of decreased postoperative morbidity without the long operation time and technical difficulty of a strictly laparoscopic procedure.