[First 24 Japanese cases of robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy using the daVinci Surgical System]

In Japan, as of September 2007, prostatectomy is conducted with open surgical procedures in more than 90% of the cases. Following the first reported robotic prostatectomy by Binder, et al. in 2000, a robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP) using the daVinci Surgical System (Intuitive Surgical, Inc., Sunnyvale, California, USA) has been extensively used as a standard procedure with gratifying results in the United States. In the Asian region, in contrast, RALP is still in an introductory phase. Recently, we introduced RALP in Japan. A total of 24 patients received robotic surgery within a year since August 2006. RALP was completed in all patients without conversion to open surgery, except for the first patient in whom a restriction to a 2-hour operation had been imposed by the Ethical Committee. The mean operative time using the daVinci device and the mean estimated blood loss were 232.0 (range; 136-405) minutes and 313.0 (range; 10-1,000) ml, respectively. The training program we recently developed proved remarkably effective in reducing the learning curve of robotic surgery in Japan, where there is no person with expertise in this operating procedure. In particular, the intraoperative guidance given by the expert was useful after relevant problematic points were delineated by operators who received comprehensive video-based image training and actually performed robot surgery in several cases. With direct intraoperative guidance by the mentor during cases 13 and 14, both the operation time and estimated blood loss was markedly reduced.